


Overjoyed

by im_squidward



Series: To Be Young Again [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Idiots in Love, Kidnapping, M/M, Not Thor: The Dark World Compliant, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Parent Thor (Marvel), Parent Tony Stark, Pining Thor (Marvel), Pining Tony Stark, Protective Avengers, Protective Thor (Marvel), Protective Tony Stark, Slow Burn, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Steve is a Troll, Team as Family, baby Loki, de-aged loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-02-12 23:44:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21484804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_squidward/pseuds/im_squidward
Summary: Did he seriously just say that there's a younger Loki roaming around now? Is that even safe?"So Loki's a kid," Tony summarized as he tried to wrap his head around what Thor had told them. "I'm more surprised about not being surprised that this sort of shit can happen."*[or the one where Loki's a one year old who helps his brother and Tony get their shit together and get together]
Relationships: Loki & Avengers Team, Loki & Thor (Marvel), Loki & Tony Stark, Loki & Tony Stark & Thor, Pepper Potts/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team, Tony Stark/Thor
Series: To Be Young Again [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1217370
Comments: 74
Kudos: 493





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "No, we haven't forgotten but it seems that you've forgotten that Loki was as much a victim as you were," Tony argues with the archer who glares at him and scoffs. "All of us here have gotten a second, third, fourth and fifth chance, why can't Loki have one? What makes him so different to the rest of us?"

"Sir," JARVIS speaks up, startling Tony who'd been entirely too focused on his work to realize that his lab was a tad bit too quiet. "I apologize for interrupting, but Mr Odinson has returned-"

"Thor's back?" Tony asks excitedly, whole face lighting up like a Christmas tree as he quickly starts saving his work and waving away holograms to go greet his friend.

"-and has requested for a team meeting in the usual conference room."

"A meeting? Is everything alright?"

"He appears to be uninjured, however, Mr Odinson is showing high levels of stress and anxiety."

Tony worries the whole way up to the conference room, wondering what could make the usually sunshine-like man so stressed out. Well, one name comes to mind, but last he heard Loki was still locked up in Asgard. Maybe he escaped and that's why Thor's requesting a meeting. Well, whatever it was had to be important for Thor to call them into a meeting.

Tony was the last one to walk into the conference room, and when he did, he stopped halfway to his seat when he saw Thor for the first time in weeks. The blonde god of thunder was still ridiculously handsome, though he looked exhausted which was an unusual look for someone who was practically a human puppy, overexcited and eager to learn new things. Thor still smiled though. His lips tugging into a large grin as soon as Tony walks in and he's up and out of his seat in an instant, pulling the shorter man into his arms and holding him for a few extra long seconds. Tony hugs him back, unconsciously melting into his strong arms and breathing in the god's scent which reminds him of a stormy day. And Thor's scent has become so familiar since they took down Loki and his army and Thor saved his life after the heart attack he had, that it's comforting now. Dare he say, it smells like home.

Tony relaxes completely in his embrace and closes his eyes as he enjoys the feeling of Thor's strong arms wrapped around him. Both completely forgetting about the others in the room who had become their audience.

Someone coughing brought the two back down to reality and they pulled away, Tony throwing Clint a quick glare before taking his seat and trying to fight off a blush and avoiding everyone's looks. The archer simply grinned smugly while Natasha looked about done with everything and everyone. Steve's expression was a mix of fond and exasperation while Bruce stared at the table awkwardly.

"So, big guy, what'd you call us in for?" Tony asks as he leans back in his seat, to the left of Steve's who sat at the head of the long table.

"I bring some news, my friends," Thor tells them solemnly as he places his hands, fingers laced together, on top of the table and avoids prolonged eye contact with the rest of his team as he tries to gather his thoughts.

"Is everything alright, Thor?" Steve asks worriedly, sitting up straight in his seat and going into Captain America mode. The others look at their teammate in concern and Loki crosses Tony's mind again.

"I need you all to listen and please, do not interrupt. This is something important and all I ask is that you let me explain, please," Thor pleads as he looks at each and every one of them with wide blue eyes and Tony wishes he were sitting next to the god to offer him some sort of comfort.

"Hey, Thor, buddy, whatever it is just know that you have our support," Tony reassures the blonde and the rest echo that statement with nods and comforting words. They've never seen Thor this distressed before and it's actually setting them all on edge.

"My brother-"

"Of course," Clint interrupts Thor with a scoff, scowling angrily as he crosses his arms across his chest.

"Clint," Steve hisses at the archer. Loki might not be their favorite person, but whatever happened involves Loki and made Thor look like he hasn't slept in awhile. "Thor, go ahead. What about Loki?"

"My brother was being held in a cell in Asgard, awaiting a second trial where the All-Father would then decide what to do with him. His options were not looking very good. Loki would either get banished from Asgard for good or he would spend the rest of his days locked up in that cell," Thor explained and Tony didn't want to admit that both options sounded really harsh to him. "Mother and I did not agree with that and we tried to fight my father on his decisions, but we can only do so much against the All Father."

"Okay, so then what happened?" Natasha asked him, waiting patiently for the god to gather his thoughts.

"Someone poisoned Loki just days before his trial and had it not been for our mother, he would be dead by now."

"Would have been fine by me," Clint says with a shrug of clear indifference and tried his best to not flinch when Thor turned to glare at him.

"Do you know if, sorry for saying this, Loki had planned it? I mean, it's kinda suspicious that he'd get poisoned days before his trial," Steve questioned the other blonde who deflated at the question.

"I had thought so too, but had that been the case, my brother would not have used one that ended in his death. At least, I hope not," Thor mumbled the last part to himself and Tony couldn't help but feel like there was a whole lot more to Loki that they didn't know about. That maybe Thor didn't even know about. "Whatever the case is, mother is doing an investigation and questioning the guards and anyone else who might have visited my brother while he was in the cell."

"If Loki didn't die, then I assume you guys found a cure?" Bruce wonders, engaging in the conversation for the first time.

"Aye, my mother did, though not a normal cure since there technically is no cure for the kind of poison that was used on Loki. Mother used a very complicated spell, but it ended up doing a lot more than getting rid of the poison in his body."

"I'm kinda afraid to ask, but what did it do?" Tony asks him a little hesitantly, sharing a concerned look with Steve who mirrored his expression.

"It regressed my brother back quite a few years," Thor finally tells them after a few long tense seconds of silence and they all look at Thor with wide shocked eyes.

Did he seriously just say that there's a younger Loki roaming around now? Is that even safe?

"So Loki's a kid," Tony summarized as he tried to wrap his head around what Thor had told them. "I'm more surprised about not being surprised that this sort of shit can happen."

"Where is he now? Is he back in Asgard?" Steve asked the god while the others tried to understand their situation.

"I left him in London with Jane and Darcy, but I have come here asking for your assistance with my brother," Thor tells them hesitantly and well, Tony doesn't blame him. Thor can't mention Loki around the others without a fight breaking out.

"What are you trying to ask, Thor?" Bruce asks him with a slight frown as he cleans his glasses nervously.

"I cannot leave my brother on Asgard, the All Father not only will he not allow Loki's return, but I am unsure of what he would do to my brother if he did and Jane and Darcy cannot look after him-"

"So what?" Barton interrupted and Tony closed his eyes knowing what was coming. "You want us to have that fucked up asshole living here with us like some messed up happy family?!"

"Barton!" Tony and Steve shouted, Bruce shook his head and Natasha remained blank though her left eyebrow twitched upwards slightly. Whether her reaction was because of Clint's outburst or Thor's request, was a mystery.

"Have care for how you speak about my brother!" Thor shouted angrily as he stood up with his fists clenched and thunder rumbled outside as they sky began to darken.

"Have you suddenly forgotten all the shit he did to everyone?! To me?!"

"No, we haven't forgotten but it seems that you've forgotten that Loki was as much a victim as you were," Tony argues with the archer who glares at him and scoffs. "All of us here have gotten a second, third, fourth and fifth chance, why can't Loki have one? What makes him so different to the rest of us?"

"You're only saying that because you're trying to get into Thor's pants because you want to fuck whatever hot guy or girl walks in front of you, Stark."

"That's enough!" Steve shouted at Clint who deflated slightly and kept his gaze down on the table to avoid the captain's disappointed stare. "Tony is right. We've all at some point gotten a second chance so why can't we give Loki one? Especially now that he's a kid?"

"While I agree with that, how can we be sure that Loki won't cause any trouble?" Natasha questions, turning her hard green eyes to Thor who looked about ready to strangle Clint and defend Tony. "How can we be sure that it's not kid Loki with his adult mind?"

"Because he can barely speak. According to Jane, my brother is around one Midgardian year," Thor replies and the rest of the team look at each other with surprised looks. That certainly changed things. "My brother will have to grow all over again and will not have any of his past memories."

"And what about his magic?" Bruce asked curiously. "Since he's so young, wouldn't he have no control over it? That could be a problem in the long run."

"My mother will keep it restrained until she deems him ready, but he pretty much is completely mortal."

"So he'll age like a normal human?" Tony wonders as he looks over at Thor who nods and that piece of information puts Tony at ease.

"Until mother decides to unlock his seidr, he will grow like any regular Midgardian child does."

"Okay, we can work with that. We'll help ya out, big guy. Bring the mini reindeer games over whenever and I'll help you set up a nursery for him and buy him all the necessary things."

"Thank you, Anthony," Thor tells Tony with a grateful nod and the genius smiles at him small, soft and genuine.

"We're not even going to vote on this?" Clint asked them all angrily and Natasha sighed in irritation.

"We're not heartless monsters to deny Thor the help he needs and turn away a baby, Clint. And Tony's right about second chances, why shouldn't Loki get another?" Natasha tells the archer who doesn't reply. "You gave me one despite all the red in my ledger."

"You have our full support, Thor," Steve reassures the god of thunder who nods thankfully, relaxing in his seat and looking like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Clint stood up and left the room, leaving behind a bit of tension and awkwardness. Natasha was next, giving Thor a smile and a nod before following after her partner and then Bruce mumbled something that probably only Steve caught and he was heading back to his lab probably. Thor, Steve and Tony remained seated though.

"Thank you, again, for helping me with my brother. I know he is not on anyone's good books after what he did a year ago, but it really means a lot to me that you are willing to help," Thor tells the co-leaders of the team, looking less stressed out than when he'd arrived.

"Don't mention it, Thor," Steve tells him with a friendly smile. "And Tony's right. Everyone deserves a second chance and many of us on this team have gotten our fair share of chances."

"Tell me about it," Tony mumbles as he leans back in his seat and starts to drum his fingers on the table. "When are you heading back to London?"

"I am leaving immediately. I cannot leave Jane and Darcy with my brother for long. The sooner I leave the sooner I can bring him here," Thor replies as he looks at Tony who nods in understanding.

"I will get JARVIS to order the necessary things first like a crib, diapers and other basics and then once baby Merlin is here we'll plan from there," Tony says as he pulls out his phone to start searching baby sites.

"If you need help let me know," Steve tells Tony, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a small squeeze to which Tony looked up at him and smiled, giving a slight nod. Steve walked out of the conference room and left behind the two most oblivious people he's ever met.

"How is Loki by the way? Like did your mom check him over to make sure he was healthy and such?" Tony asked a little nervously as he looked up from his phone momentarily, trying not to jump in his seat when he found Thor sitting next to him. And when had the guy moved? Thor isn't exactly known for being quiet. It's why they never sent him out on stealth missions.

"My brother is healthy, as far as the healers on Asgard could tell, but since he is mortal now, I fear Banner would be better equipped to inform us of his health," Thor replies and Tony gives a nod, mentally making a note to himself to tell Bruce about giving baby Merlin a check up once he arrived.

"About what Clint said, I hope you don't take it personally," Tony begins to say as he sets his phone down to look over at the blonde god who frowns. "It's been a rough year for him and-"

"No, Anthony. You should not have to apologize for him. He spoke ill of you without needing to. A simple no would have sufficed as I know that my brother has wronged not only him, but everyone on this team and the people of New York." In his speech, Thor had moved closer until he could reach out to grab one of Tony's hands in both of his large ones and the genius had to suppress a shiver that wanted to run down his spine at the contact.

It was electrifying to have Thor touching him. His skin tingled and it made Tony wonder if this is what it felt like to touch the god of thunder or if his reaction was because of his feelings towards the future king of Asgard. Or it could have also been because Tony remembered back to the first time they'd been this close with Thor touching him. Over a year ago when Tony had had a heart attack in the lobby of a then Stark Tower and the god had used his powers to help him out. That's when it had all started. The shy smiles, stolen glances. They weren't subtle about their feelings towards each other, but they also weren't brave enough to do something about it.

Tony was just... worried, possibly scared though he wouldn't admit it out loud. The team was still so new, he didn't want anything to ruin the family like dynamic they've grown to have. If things didn't work out between them, because it's Tony and he's bound to do something wrong to drive Thor away, he didn't want the others to choose sides. And they were just so different anyways. Thor came from royalty and spent his time back and forth between Earth and Asgard, sometimes being gone for weeks at a time and Tony himself was traveling often for work and he was reckless and selfish (according to his ex partners anyways). They were polar opposites.

"Hey, don't worry about me, big guy. I've learned long ago to brush off comments like that and he only said it because he's mad," Tony tells Thor with a slight chuckle as he uses his free hand to pat the top of Thor's. Sure he can brush off those comments from everyone, but this time it actually hurt him. "Now, why don't I finish ordering things for your brother and you go back to London to get the little one."

Thor looks like he wants to say something else, but instead smiles wide and gives Tony's hand one last squeeze before pulling away and standing up. Tony misses his warmth immediately.

"Yes, I do need to return. Jane and Darcy are not exactly-"

"The best babysitters?" Tony offered as he stood up, pocketing his phone in his back pocket as he smiled up at Thor who chuckled fondly and nodded as they began to head out of the conference room and towards the landing pad. "Say hi to the girls for me."

"Aye, my friend. I shall return soon."

And with that, Thor flew off and left Tony standing there looking up at the sky.

"Miss your chance again?" Comes Steve's teasing voice from behind him and Tony rolls his eyes before turning to glare at his friend who chuckles. "You know I'm just teasin' ya."

"At least I admit my feelings, Rogers," Tony teases him back with a smirk, laughing in delight when the blonde blushes bright red. "When will you admit that you like Pepper? I know she's scary, but I can put in a good word for you."

"I will when you and Thor get together."

"Then I guess we'll be single for the rest of our lives, Cap."

"Fine by me." Steve shrugs as he wraps an arm around Tony's shoulders and leads him inside where they find Natasha heading towards the kitchen with Bruce trailing after her, the two discussing something.

"Did Thor leave?" Bruce asks Tony who nods and takes a seat at the island on one of the bar stools with Steve taking the one to his right. "Is he coming back right away with Loki or-?"

"Yeah. He didn't exactly say when, but I'm guessing it'll be within the next two days. Oh and hopefully you can give baby Merlin a checkup once he's here," Tony informs the doctor who doesn't even say that he's not that kinda doctor anymore and just nods.

"You do realize our lives are going to change now with a baby at home, right?" Natasha tells Tony as she turns to face him, probably thinking that the genius hadn't thought about it enough since he had agreed to help Thor right away without a second thought.

"Yes, I do realize that, but it's Thor. Would you guys have been able to say no to his face?"

"He's got a point," Steve says, always ready to back Tony up and the brunette shoots his friend a smile while Natasha rolls her eyes fondly. "But on a more serious note, we need to have plans in place for when we head out on missions. Like, who will look after Loki? When Thor heads off to Asgard, who will be in charge of the baby? Thor himself said he didn't want to take Loki to Asgard because of their father."

"Well I for one vote Tony as Loki's nanny for when Thor isn't around," Natasha jokes and said man huffs and rolls his eyes.

"Uh have you not met me? I'm a mess. I can barely take care of myself on a good day, Tash, don't expect me to know what to do with a mini human. Besides, I've never even been around a baby so really, I'm the last person Thor should trust with his brother," Tony argued even if his own words felt like a knife to his heart.

"If anything, you'll be the first person he trusts with Loki and Clint will definitely be the last," Bruce argues with his science bro, raising an eyebrow at him in a challenging way as if saying, 'I dare you to argue with me'. "Either way, I'm sure you'll be spending a lot of time with Thor and it's not like any of us have ever been around babies anyways."

"Bruce is right. This will be a learning experience for all of us," Steve chimes in, sounding way too happy about the situation.

"If you're going to turn this into one of your team bonding exercises, then you're insane and need some serious help," Tony tells Steve as he turns to face the blonde who simply keeps grinning like a loon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like this new story !! There's a lack of Thor/Tony stories and I adore them and add a baby Loki into the mix ?? Even better.
> 
> Also, the 20 chapters is just my goal, it's meant to be a short story but who knows. And it's only canon up until Iron Man 3, but this still references Thor saving Tony from a heart attack during the new 2012 timeline, except Loki didn't escape with the tesseract here and Clint's only a dick for a a few chapters, but I feel like it's kinda justified (well not what he said to Tony, just him not wanting Loki around because of what happened).
> 
> Anyways, hope you like this new story !!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Anthony," Thor greeted him softly, a warm smile on his face as he turns to face the genius with Loki in his arms and his large green eyes staring at Tony curiously before smiling wide and showing off two bottom front teeth.

"Sir," JARVIS calls out, startling Tony out of his light doze and making him sit up in bed quickly thinking there was an emergency or something. "I apologize for interrupting your sleep, but Mr Odinson has returned to the tower."

"I wasn't sleeping," Tony slurs out as he rubs his eyes and stifles a yawn with the back of his hand.

"Of course you weren't."

"Hey, watch the sass, young man." Tony takes a moment to stretch before he freezes with his arms in the air and his back arched. "Wait, you said Thor's back."

"Indeed I did, sir. Astounding observation," JARVIS replies in a deadpan voice. "He is on his way up the elevator towards his floor."

Tony scrambles out of bed, nearly tripping on his own feet and searching for clean clothes.

"Is baby Merlin with him?"

"I would assume the toddler in his arms is, as you so lovingly call him, baby Merlin."

Tony leaves his room and takes the elevator down to Thor's floor, trying to decide if he was excited to see Thor again or nervous to meet baby Loki. Things were about to change around the tower and Tony wasn't sure if he was ready for it.

Stepping off the elevator on Thor's floor, he found the god of thunder in the living room with a black haired baby in his arms. It was an amusing scene to walk into. Thor being all big and broad shouldered made Loki look like one of those baby dolls children played with.

"Anthony," Thor greeted him softly, a warm smile on his face as he turns to face the genius with Loki in his arms and his large green eyes staring at Tony curiously before smiling wide and showing off two bottom front teeth.

"Huh, you sure this is your brother?" Tony asks the god, gaze locked on the baby blabbering away and waving his arms around. "He's way too cute to be related to you."

Thor threw his head back and laughed in delight and it made something in Tony's stomach flutter at the sound. Loki looked up at his brother before he too dissolved into a round of giggles and Tony found himself joining the brothers.

Loki eventually began to squirm in Thor's hold until the man set him down on the ground and Tony watched in curiosity as the baby sat on his butt and looked around the new room before beginning to crawl. And that's when Tony noticed it.

"Is-Is he wearing a Captain America onesie?" Tony asked in between bouts of laughter as he took in the navy blue colored onesie with Cap's shield on the front.

"Ah yes, Darcy thought it would be funny," Thor explained as he rubbed at the back of his neck before turning to look at the genius with bright blue eyes and Tony found himself getting lost in the rich exotic color.

Tony's always been a sucker for colored eyes, blue being his absolute favorite, but he's never seen eyes as blue and beautiful as Thor's. They always captured his attention, he felt hypnotized almost. His eyes were the sky that completed his sunny smile and personality.

"JARVIS, are the others home?" The genius asks his AI after a little staring contest with Thor that he lost on purpose when it felt like the god was staring straight at his soul.

"Indeed sir, would you like me to inform them of Mister Odinson's return?" JARVIS asks and Tony watches as Loki sits on his butt again and look around the room for the new voice.

"Do you want the others to know, big guy?"

"Aye, it would be wise to do so now." Thor nodded and Tony gave JARVIS the go ahead while continuing to watch Loki who was now crawling over to him.

"Uh hey there, Reindeer Games," Tony greets the baby awkwardly when he sits in front of Tony and grins up at him before raising his chubby pale arms up towards the engineer. It was obvious what Loki wanted, but Tony didn't want it. He'd never been around babies and always said that he never wanted kids. Sure he thought babies were cute and all, but he wouldn't know what to do if he ever had one.

"It seems that Loki has taken a liking to you, Anthony," Thor says in obvious joy and well Tony can't turn Loki away now and risk upsetting the god of thunder and for some miracle, Tony hasn't managed to do that yet.

So Tony bends down and picks up the baby awkwardly, hands under Loki's armpits and holds him at a slight distance from his body. Loki shrieks with joy and makes grabby hands at Tony until the genius settles the baby against his chest.

And Tony's surprised to find out how easy it all is. And how terrifying it is to hold a human so small and how fragile it feels to hold the baby. Tony almost doesn't want to tighten his hold for fear of hurting him, but with the way Loki is squirming around in his arms he has to so he won't drop him.

One of Loki's small hands comes up to pat his cheek and Tony can't help the smile that forms on his face just as the elevator doors open and out walks the rest of the team, Clint included.

"Huh, never thought I'd see the day that Tony Stark held a baby and didn't look seconds away from dropping him," Steve teased his best friend who turned to scowl at him. Loki took one look at Tony and then did his best to imitate the scowl on the genius' face as he looked at Steve.

"Uh oh, Steve, the little one isn't looking too happy with you," Natasha says with a smirk as she walks further into the room and Thor laughs loud and full of amusement.

Bruce smiled and tried his best to hide his chuckles. Clint was just standing by the elevator doors with his arms across his chest and looking uninterested in the situation. Tony meanwhile walks over to Thor to hand Loki over to him despite having the weird urge to never let go of the baby who smells like all things sweet and good.

"No!" Loki whines when Thor tries taking him and clings to Tony much to the rest of the team's amusement. "No!"

"Alright, small fry, you can stay," Tony grumbles and pretends to look irritated but was secretly glad to keep the baby in his arms. "But don't make it a habit because I'm super busy all the time. Got that?"

Loki stared up at him with big green eyes and a cute little smile that had his insides melting and wow was it hard to not coo at the baby. Tony was too busy getting turned into goo by the baby to notice the heart eyes Thor was throwing his way. Natasha and Steve noticed though and they shared teasing looks and secretive giggles.

"So this is Loki as a baby," Nat says as she approaches Tony, Loki staring up at her with a few fingers in his mouth that has the genius billionaire grimacing and taking them out. "He's pretty cute."

"Adorable, more like," Steve agrees as he too approaches them with a large grin. "Hi there Loki, I'm Steve, a friend of your brother's."

"T'or?" Loki asks as he turns to look and point at his brother with one chubby finger before looking back at Steve.

"That's right, little one! You are so smart, aren't ya?"

Loki nods and giggles before snuggling up into Tony and hiding his face in the billionaire's neck. Tony places a discreet kiss to the baby's head before his eyes lock with Thor's who was still staring at him. The brunette blushed and turned back to look at his teammates who were still cooing over the baby who had gone all shy, much to their surprise.

"Anything you need, Thor, we're here to help," Bruce tells the god of thunder with a smile. "_All_ of us are here to help." And that was a clear jab at Clint who scoffed and got back in the elevator that took him straight to his floor.

"He'll come around," Natasha reassures them with a slight shrug, eyes glued on Loki who was getting sleepy as he played with a hole on Tony's t-shirt. "Now that Loki is here, we really need to figure out what our plans will be in case we get called out."

"I don't like the idea, but we could hire someone, after a very thorough background check and all, to essentially be Loki's live in nanny?" Tony suggested, unconsciously swaying side to side to get the baby to fall asleep which was working since Loki's eyes were getting heavier with sleep. Steve bit his bottom lip to fight back the smile that threaten to take over. "But really, it's all up to you, Point Break."

Thor let out a sigh and sat down on the couch, the rest, minus Tony, taking up the other seats while the genius began to pace around the length of the room while rubbing Loki's back.

"It would have to be someone we can trust and like Tony said, after doing background checks, signing NDAs and various interviews, but we'd still be risking it," Steve spoke up. "We'd essentially be letting a stranger live in the tower with us."

"Would Coulson be opposed to babysitting?" Tony joked and Bruce and Steve both smiled in amusement. "Assuming we could pull him away from his new team. Oh! What about Skye?!"

"Sure why not ask Fitz or Jemma as well?"

"Wow, when did Captain America become so mean?"

"You're corrupting him," Bruce replied in a monotone voice and Tony pouted as he kept getting Loki to fall asleep. "Look, we don't all get called in for missions, maybe for now, whoever stays back looks after Loki and we keep working on a solution to when we all have to go."

"There is also the matter of when I have to head back to Asgard. I do not think my father would be too happy to see Loki, even if he is an innocent babe," Thor spoke up sadly as his gaze was locked with Tony who was walking around deep in though, Loki having long fallen asleep with all the rocking and talking. "If it would not be too much trouble, could I leave my brother under your care?" He asked no one in particular, though the rest could see how his question was more or less directed at Tony who stopped walking and faced Thor.

"I'll look after the little Hocus Pocus. I'd just need to set up one of the guest rooms in my floor as a nursery," Tony replies as he rests his cheek on top of Loki's head of black hair without really thinking.

"And we'll help Tony when and if he needs to do something important," Natasha reassures Thor who nods and smiles gratefully at all of them.

"I know that I am asking a lot out of you, my friends, but I truly cannot express how thankful I am that you are willing to help me despite everything that my brother has done in the past."

"Hey, no. The past is past and if Loki got a second chance to live life, then who are we to hold a grudge for what past him did," Bruce speaks firmly as he looks over at Loki who was sucking on his thumb in his sleep before returning his gaze to Thor. "Besides, you're our family and we all have each other's backs here."

"Yeah, buddy. We're a dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless," Steve echoes with a sunny grin. "Now, we'll get out of your hair so you can settle Loki down for his nap and we'll see you at dinner?"

"Aye, Steven. Thank you," Thor replies with a smile as they all stand up and Steve, Natasha and Bruce head towards the elevator while Tony tries to pretend that his nose isn't buried in the soft hair that smells oh so wonderful. "I believe your arms may be tired from holding my brother, why do you not set him down in his crib?"

"Yeah that's a great idea," Tony mumbles as he follows Thor down the hallway towards the nursery. "Hope you like it. Steve did most of the work, but we all pitched in to make it feel like home for the little one."

"Tis quite wonderful, Anthony, I will be eternally grateful for your kindness and friendship," Thor speaks quietly as he places a large hand on Tony's shoulder.

"Don't mention it, big guy. Here." Tony carefully passes Loki over to the taller blonde who is surprisingly gentle and cradles his baby brother in a soft and careful embrace. Loki only stirs slightly at the change, but otherwise doesn't wake, not even when he's lowered into the crib.

Tony tried to shake off the domesticity of the situation, but finds himself unable to stop imagining a life with Thor. It was all just a wild dream that Tony was sure would never come to life.

"So I'll see you at dinner," Tony informs Thor, a sudden urge to rush off before he does something stupid like kiss the god.

Thor nods and sends one final smile Tony's way before the genius all but flees the God's floor and takes the elevator straight to his lab.

"Fuck, JARVIS," Tony whines at his AI once he's in the safety of his lab with his robot children, his hands flat against a metal table as he leans on it and breaths out. "I don't know how I'll be able to be this close to Thor without jumping him."

"If I may sir," JARVIS begins and Tony braces himself for a smart ass comment, "perhaps you should stop attempting to flee each time the two of you are alone in a room and just let whatever happen happen?"

"That's crazy."

"Yes, I apologize for making such a ludicrous comment based on the little observation I have gathered."

Tony glared at one of the cameras and said, "Do you know something I don't?"

"As Mr Odinson would say, sir, nay."

"I really should donate you somewhere like Burger King. Let's get to work. Daddy's got a lot to do and babysitting baby Merlin won't make me fall behind."

"If you say so, sir," JARVIS replies completely amused and Tony huffs out a laugh because if anything, Loki would certainly make him fall behind on work because Tony will only admit in private that he can't get enough of that tiny little thing sleeping peacefully upstairs.

*

When Tony reaches the communal floor for dinner a few hours later, he's not surprised to find out that he's the last one there and that Clint will not be joining them. Loki's sitting in a high chair right next to Thor who sits at one end of the table and those large green eyes look up when Tony announces his presence and he squeals rather loudly.

"Whoa, easy there, Maleficent," Tony winces as he rubs Loki's black hair as he walks past. "We've got an old man here who can't afford to keep losing his hearing."

"Ha ha," Steve says as he looks up at Tony who grins innocently and Natasha shakes her head fondly. "Sit. Bruce made fajitas for dinner."

"Oh fuck yeah." Tony rushes over to grab a plate, ignoring the glare the good Captain sends his way at having swore in front of an oblivious baby who is too busy mashing his food with his hands.

When Tony takes a seat, he sits to Thor's left which leaves Loki between the two of them, much to the toddler's delight. Natasha, Steve and Bruce all share knowing looks that go unnoticed by Thor and Tony who are busy cooing over Loki who offers them mashed food with his hands.

"You're a real chef, aren't ya, Merlin?" Tony asks the baby who talks back in his little baby talk.

"With all those nicknames you call him, you'll only end up confusing him," Natasha tells Tony who waves her off.

"Oh Thor, bring Loki down to my lab tomorrow so I can give him that check up we talked about," Bruce reminds the blonde who nods.

"Aye, I shall take him down in the morning once he wakes up and has breakfast," Thor replies as he looks over at Loki who's whole face is covered in cheese and noodles, Steve having prepared mac and cheese for the little one who was clearly loving it a little too much.

"Someone's gonna need a bath," Steve says fondly as he smiles at Loki who finally smiles back at him.

"Do any of us even know how to bathe a gremlin?" Tony asks curiously as he looks around the table and everyone shakes their heads.

"You're a genius, I'm sure you can figure it out," Bruce teases his science bro who pouts.

"No worries, Anthony, I am sure that we will figure this out together," Thor speaks up and Tony turns to look at him, only to find Thor already staring with a dopey smile on his face.

"Unbelievable," Tony hears Steve mumble but he ignores the comment as he smiles back at the sunshine like man who still won't tear his gaze away from him. "And he calls me oblivious."

Natasha snorts and continues eating while refraining to just push Tony's and Thor's heads together until they kiss. All in due time though. Rushing things could cause more harm then good in the long run and the last thing she wanted was for two of her best friend to get hurt. Especially with a baby now being involved in their lives.

"T'or!" Loki shouted, clearly not happy with his big brother's attention being on someone else.

"Yes, little one?" Thor asked his brother, snapping out of the staring contest he'd been in with Tony who went back to his food with slightly flushed cheeks.

"Yum!"

"Yes, 'tis quite yummy, isn't it?"

Loki nods and shoves another fistful of noodles into his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bb loki is jealous his big brother only pays attention to tony :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Annie's home!" Steve shouts from the living room once Tony steps off the elevator, laughing at the engineer's confused expression.

Tony has no idea how to bathe a baby, despite having JARVIS as help and telling him what not to do.

First, he and Thor gather everything they'll need and then undress Loki and take him to the bathroom where JARVIS had already filled up the tub with the amount of water typically recommended at a decent temperature and then they sit Loki in the water. Loki doesn't seem to like it and tries to cling to Thor's arm, which is there for extra support.

Second, Tony sets a few Avengers themed rubber ducks in the water and that seems to catch Loki's attention for awhile before he starts whining and so Tony gets to work on washing the baby who squirms and attempts to get away from Tony's soapy hands.

"It is alright, brother. The quicker you let us do this, the quicker we can get you out," Thor speaks softly to his brother who stops moving for a few seconds to stare up at him with large watery green eyes.

"Yeah, Maleficent. Don't you want a nice warm bottle before bed?" Tony asks the one year old who goes back to playing with a Captain America duck before he throws it at Thor's face and he starts laughing hysterically. Tony tries not to laugh, he really does, but Thor just looks so resigned and betrayed as he stares down at the duck and he starts to laugh alongside Loki who only laughs harder as he stares between his brother and the genius.

"I believe it is time we finish this before we end up soaking wet," Thor commented as he placed the duck back in the water and helped Tony finish washing the baby who kept splashing around in the water though he was struggling to stay awake by now.

"Alright, Lo," Tony says in a much softer tone with some fondness mixed in his amusement as he started to drain the water and grabbed a towel as Thor picked up the baby out of the tub. "Time for little duckies to get out of the water."

And all Thor could do was watch as the brunette, who always went around saying he was bad with kids and didn't want any, was gentle in the way he dried off Loki and then wrapped the fluffy yellow towel with little ducks printed on it while talking to the sleepy one year old and cooing at him like it was natural. Almost like he'd been doing this for Loki's whole year of life. It's a sight that Thor wants to see more of, just him because Tony is an entirely different person when he unknowingly lets his walls down and it's easily his favorite Tony, along with sleepy/cuddly Tony.

"Ba?" Loki mumbles as he brings a hand up to rub at his eyes, a small yawn interrupting whatever he wanted to say next and instead lays his head on Tony's shoulder as they leave the bathroom.

"Yeah, a bottle. You want a bottle, Lo?" Tony asks with a smile as he sets Loki down on the changing table. "Uh hey, Point Break, you know how to change a diaper?"

"Nay my friend," Thor responds, cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"Then who- Never mind. Okay, how hard can this be?" Tony asks rhetorically as he looks at all the supplies on the changing table before staring down at the baby laying tiredly and completely naked. "Just, please, if you're ever going to pee on someone, do it on your brother. Or better yet, Steve since he's been such a troll lately."

"'te?" Loki choruses in a curious tone as he stares up at Tony with sleepy green eyes.

"That's right, you smart boy. Steve." Tony tickled Loki's little belly as he got a diaper under the baby, grinning at the sweet little giggles he released. "Ha! I got it!"

Thor walked over until he was standing half behind Tony and peered down at the almost perfectly done diaper. The straps were a little off, but it was certainly much better than Thor's first attempt. He put the thing on backwards and Jane and Darcy had laughed at him.

"Well you are rather smart," Thor compliments Tony, standing close enough to see the faint blush dusting the man's cheeks and the blonde can't help but grin as he studies Tony's profile.

Tony quickly dresses Loki in pajamas before carrying him out of the nursery and towards the kitchen with Thor following like a lost puppy. He gets a bottle ready quickly and then they head back to the nursery where he has Thor sit on the rocking chair before placing Loki in his arms, snorting in amusement as Loki whined and sent his brother a pretty impressive glare.

"Maybe you should do this," Thor says a little nervously as he looks up at Tony with wide blue eyes and the genius shakes his head.

"Nuh uh, big guy. He's your brother and you gotta learn how to do this stuff, ya know? So here." Tony hands him the bottle and Thor places it to Loki's lips.

Loki must have been hungry because the bottle was gone in an instant, much to their surprise and amusement. By the time Loki was lowered into his crib, he was fast asleep. Tony stood by the doorway of the nursery and watched as Thor whispered some things in what he assumed was the god's native language before joining Tony at the door.

The lights turned off, leaving only the soft glow of a nightlight and Thor left the door ajar before walking Tony to the elevator. He wanted to ask the genius to stay with him awhile, but knew the shorter man was always busy and he had already done more than enough by helping him with Loki. The last thing Thor wanted was to keep the genius from his work.

"If you need anything throughout the night, have JARVIS get me and I'll come help you out," Tony tells the blonde as the elevator doors open and wait for Tony to step in.

"Aye, thank you my friend. I do not think an eternity would ever be enough to repay your kindness. I appreciate it," Thor says as he grabs Tony's left hand and brings it up to his lips, pressing a light kiss to the man's knuckles and relishing in the blush that dusts over his tan cheeks again.

"Uh I uh," Tony stammers out dumbly, eyes wide and heart racing in his chest. "How about we call it even?" At Thor's adorably confused frown, Tony explained. "For the time you saved my life after we caught Loki. You know, with your lightning and all."

"Ah yes. Either way, Anthony, you truly have a beautiful soul and a heart much too big."

Tony's blush only deepens at that and he says a quick goodbye to Thor before retreating into the elevator.

"To my lab, J, please," Tony informs his AI who silently takes him down to his workshop without making a sarcastic remark.

* ~ * ~ *

After breakfast the next day, Tony accompanies Thor and Loki down to Bruce's lab to give the little one his check up. Loki was looking around with wide eyes from his spot in his big brother's arms, squealing happily when he spotted Bruce who smiled back awkwardly.

"Alright Thor, you can set Loki down on the exam table here," Bruce says as he pats the bed before going over to grab what he needs from the cabinets.

Loki protests a little when he's set down, babbling something up at Thor that sounded rather angry.

"Hmm, pretty sure the gremlin here just insulted you, Thor," Tony jokes with the blonde who laughs and bops Loki's little button nose which has the one year old scrunching it up rather cutely.

"I am sure my brother has some rather colorful vocabulary in his own little mind," Thor replies as he strokes Loki's slightly curly black hair which has the toddler whining and trying to slap his hand away.

Tony can't help but to smile fondly at the scene and when he tears his gaze away to look over at Bruce, he finds the scientist giving him a tired look.

The checkup is quick, well as quick as it can be with a squirmy baby and Tony's rather impressed at the patience Bruce seems to find.

"And? How's Maleficent?" Tony asks as he picks up Loki who's happily sucking on a cherry flavored sucker Bruce gave him.

"Well I'm no pediatrician, so I still suggest you find one who actually is, but he's perfectly healthy and about where a one year old should be. I would also assume he can start walking any day now, so a little help and practice a few times a day could do him some good," Bruce explains. "If he's going to grow up here as a regular human child, I would recommend getting some legal work done. Birth certificate and such."

"That's right. JARVIS, get me an appointment with my lawyers, will ya?" Tony asks his AI.

"Certainly, sir. May I also recommend baby proofing young sir's most frequented floors?" JARVIS suggests and Tony grins.

"You're a genius, J."

"Well they do say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Bruce laughs at JARVIS' response and Tony wipes away a fake tear, a proud smile on his face. Thor looks a little confused, as he usually is with Midgardian references. Loki meanwhile hums happily as he continues to lick at his candy.

"So get the lawyer thing set up and have someone come baby proof the communal floor, Thor's floor and the penthouse," Tony informs JARVIS. "I also need to inform Pepper of this."

"Why? Going on maternity leave?" Bruce jokes and Tony pretends to be offended which makes Thor laugh.

"Brucie, I would have expected that to come from Steve, but from my own science bro? I feel betrayed. And hurt. Shame on you, Brucie bear."

"Now I get why Steve's such a troll. Feels good."

"Ugh, that's it. I'm out of here and I'm taking the gremlin with me before you corrupt this sweet innocent little creature."

"Ba!" Loki waves at Bruce and his brother with a grin as Tony begins to leave the lab.

"He's such a drama queen," Tony hears Bruce say with a fond tone.

"Aye, but I hope to make him my drama queen someday," comes Thor's response that has Tony blushing bright red and racing off towards the elevator with Loki giggling the whole way there.

"I feel like you understand more than you're letting on, Reindeer Games," Tony accuses the baby who simply smiles innocently up at him, lips bright red and drool all over his chin. "I'm onto you, drooly."

"An'y!" Loki shouts as he places a sticky palm on Tony's cheek.

"Are you trying to say Anthony, sweet thing?" Tony coos down at the one year old, glad it was just the two of them on the elevator. "Tony might be a bit easier for you to say."

"An'y," Loki insists stubbornly and Tony chuckles and rolls his eyes.

"As you wish, your highness."

The elevator takes them to the communal floor where Steve is the only person occupying it. Natasha and Clint head off to SHIELD every morning, so at least there was no risk of running into the archer.

"How was the checkup?" Steve asks once he spots his best friend and the baby, a smile on his face as he sets aside his journal and pencil before meeting them halfway.

"Healthy as can be," Tony answers a little proudly without even noticing.

"'te! 'te!" Loki shouts to get the man's attention.

"Hi there, Lo! Whatcha got there?" Steve questions the baby in one of those tones that Tony always deemed unnecessary and annoying when he heard adults talking to babies, but he's surprised that he doesn't find it annoying when it comes to Loki.

Loki babbles away and waves around his sucker and Steve humors him by keeping up the conversation. Tony then hands Loki over to Steve and heads to the kitchen where he pours himself some coffee in his favorite red and gold colored mug. Steve and Loki were still holding a conversation in the living room so Tony decided to sit at the island and began to think about any upcoming deadlines he still had to meet.

"Mind if I join you?" Thor asked as he pointed at the seat next to Tony, startling the genius who hadn't even heard the god of thunder walk in. Maybe they should reconsider Thor for stealth missions if he could sneak up on Tony twice.

"Go ahead, big guy," Tony replies with a slightly flirty smile. He didn't realize he was even doing it. To him flirting was second nature and with Thor it was just so much easier to do so. It felt more natural and despite being left like a babbling idiot often times, he could give as good as he got.

Thor sat down next to him with his own cup of coffee, the two snorting at Steve's mostly one sided conversation.

"He's gonna be a good babysitter whenever you need a break. Just hand Loki off to Steve and all done," Tony comments with a slight shake of his head and Thor laughs beside him, a deep rumbling sound that comes from within his chest.

"Steven will be a good option whenever we are in dire need of a break," Thor agrees and Tony tries not to focus too much on the we. Tries to shake off the image of him and Thor being tired and sleep deprived after being kept up until late because Loki didn't want to go to sleep. Or a little Loki waddling around their floor and Thor and Tony chasing after him to make sure he doesn't get hurt or touch anything that he shouldn't. His dreams are so domestic that Tony doesn't even recognize the person he's becoming thanks to Thor. "Have you been alright? I have been gone for awhile and since I have returned it has been all about Loki."

"I, yeah. I've been fine," Tony replies a little shocked that Thor was asking him if he was _okay_ which no one almost never does. "A bit busy with SI work and you know, the usual nightmares." He shrugged, avoiding eye contact with Thor.

The nightmares weren't new. They'd always been there, but after the Battle of New York and the stuff with the Mandarin, he's just added a whole new list to the already long one of nightmares and reasons why Tony avoids sleeping. He knows he's not the only one on the team to suffer from nightmares, but sometimes it feels like it and doesn't like sounding weak in front of the others.

"There is no shame in admitting to having nightmares, Anthony," Thor spoke up as if he had read Tony's mind, placing a hand on the genius' arm. "I have them often. Most involve Loki letting go of the Bifrost."

They fall silent after that and they both look up towards the entrance of the kitchen when Steve's voice catches their attention. He appears in the doorway, his hands holding onto Loki's and helping the toddler walk. Loki took hesitant and shaky steps, but each time he managed to put one foot in front of the other, he'd grin up at Steve who would praise the green eyed boy.

"T'or! An'y!" Loki greets them excitedly, trying to move quicker than he could and would have face planted had it not been for Steve holding his hands.

"Look at you, Gremlin!" Tony exclaims excitedly as he gets off his seat and crouches in front of Loki with a few inches between them. "Is Steve helping you walk? You ready to be a big boy?"

Loki nods excitedly and lets Steve help him walk into Tony's awaiting arms, squealing in complete glee when the genius caught him and showered his face with kisses. This little boy had stolen his heart from the moment he'd seen him and made him realize that maybe he'd been lying to himself this whole entire time. His fear of turning out like Howard has completely made him push away the thoughts of wanting a family.

"You will be walking in no time, little brother!" Thor all but shouts in his excitement as he too gets out of his seat and walks over to where Tony's still holding Loki and tickling his skin with his goatee.

"I can't believe we have a pocket sized Loki. If you're not careful I'm gonna kidnap him and stuff him in my suit pocket so he goes everywhere with me," Tony says, voice muffled from where his lips are pressed to a pale chubby cheek.

Thor only laughed, taking in Loki's disgruntled look as he tries to push Tony away from him. Steve only shook his head and walked away mumbling something about 'idiots' and 'in love' that neither men paid attention to.

Tony eventually has to leave, so he reluctantly hands Loki over to Thor and the toddler pouts as he makes grabby hands at the genius.

"Sorry, Reindeer Games, but I've got work to do."

"You are leaving?" Thor questions as he repositions Loki in his arms, a small frown on his face that makes Tony's heart ache.

"Sorry. Have a board meeting that I can't really miss this time or risk Pepper coming for me and dragging me by the ear. I will be back by dinner, hopefully," Tony informs the blonde who gives a slight nod. "If you need help, I'm sure Steve-o will be glad to be your babysitter."

"Have a good meeting, Anthony," Thor tells him softly and Tony nods before saying another quick goodbye to Loki and then he's off.

* ~ * ~ *

"An'y?" Loki asks for the genius for what seems like the millionth time in the last hour, green eyes staring in the direction of the elevator.

"No worries, little one. Anthony will be back soon," Thor reassures his brother as he tries to distract him with some toys.

"Did he call Tony Annie?" Steve asks from where he's sitting on the armchair with a book and an amused grin on his face.

Natasha, who had returned from SHIELD half an hour ago, snorts and shakes her head.

"It suits him, doesn't it?" She jokes and Steve really doesn't want to laugh and he'd defend his friend, but it's funny and he's so calling Tony that now.

"Sir is on his way up," JARVIS informs them after a few more minutes and Thor grins, going over to wait for the genius by the doors with Loki in his arms.

"Annie's home!" Steve shouts from the living room once Tony steps off the elevator, laughing at the engineer's confused expression.

"Um what? Who's Annie?" Tony asks Thor, looking up at the taller man who was biting his bottom lip to not laugh.

"An'y!" Loki shouted happily as he reached over to the short man whose confused expression shifted to realization and he grimaced. That's when Thor lost it and handed his brother over to Tony as he laughed hard.

"Alright, gremlin, we're going to work on getting you to say Tony," Tony tells Loki as he carries the one year old towards the living room where Natasha gives him a smug look while Steve and Thor are still laughing.

Loki just looks around the room at everyone with a slightly confused look before he's laughing as well and placing his drool coated fingers on Tony's face.

"And teach you some manners," Tony adds in a disgusted voice as he wiped away the drool with Loki's t-shirt to which Natasha sighs and tosses him one of those burping cloths.

Tony ended up sitting on the ground by Steve's feet with Loki standing on his lap and babbling away about this and that while the engineer humored him. Thor stood by the entrance to the living room staring at the two with the biggest heart eyes Steve and Natasha had ever seen.

Now if only the two could find a way to get their friends together before they drove everyone crazy with their pining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want a Baby Yoda in my life 😭😭


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Tony, where did you get that baby?" She asked, eyes trained on Loki who was jumping on Tony's lap excitedly at the new person in the room. "Please tell me that you didn't steal him or someone finally demanded a paternity test."

Loki's been at the tower for a week now and everyone, minus Clint of course, were wrapped around the little prince's finger. If they were having a bad day, all Loki had to do was give them a smile and it was like the clouds cleared the sky to let the sun shine. It was hard to believe that this was the Loki that had tried to invade their planet.

Their lives had significantly changed in order to accommodate the toddler. The main floors were all baby proofed and it was obvious that they had a child at home. There were toys scattered everywhere, diapers were stashed in every corner of the floors along with baby wipes and rash cream. Bottles and sippy cups lined a whole shelf on one of the cabinets, a high chair next to Thor's usual seat at the dining table and other little things that hadn't been there previously. Even Tony's penthouse had been invaded with Loki's things, a guest bedroom being a nursery now.

But what they all came to realize, was how easy it was to add a one year old to their lives. Tony had even found that he didn't miss the parties they'd throw at the tower, instead wanting to just stay at home and relax with Loki. Aside from Thor, Tony was the second person Loki spent the most time with and unfortunately, Annie had stuck and now the whole team called him that.

On the villain side of things, they hadn't been called out to assemble in the week that Loki had arrived, but Tony just knew their luck would be running out soon. And to his luck, it did.

Tony's in his office for once, having just walked out of a meeting with Pepper and a few other investors when there's a knock on his office door that has him looking up. The door opens and in walks Thor with Loki, the one year old immediately squirming in his brother's arms and reaching out for Tony excitedly.

"Hey big guy, what a nice visit," Tony says as he gets up from his seat and walks over to the pair, taking the toddler into his arms and kissing both his cheeks which has Loki squealing with delight.

"Director Fury called us in," Thor offers in form of greeting, a sheepish expression on his face as Tony frowns.

"How come I didn't get called in?" Tony asks curiously and a little hurt, Loki attempting to bite Tony's shoulder and leaving drool on his suit jacket.

"I believe Lady Pepper warned him against doing so, saying something about you having a very important meeting that you cannot miss tomorrow morning," Thor explained and Tony curses in his head, pouting a little because he was kind of hoping to get called in and miss tomorrow's meeting.

"So all of you are heading out then?"

"Aye, my friend, and I would very much like to know if you will be able to look after my brother for the time that we are gone."

"Hey, no worries. The Gremlin and I will have a lot of fun, won't we?"

Loki shakes his head no and giggles at the indignant look on Tony's face. Thor laughs at the pair, a soft fond sound that has Tony's insides fluttering with butterflies as he steals a quick glance at the god.

"Do you know if it's a long mission?"

"Nay. The director mentioned it could be two days at the least and complete radio silence. I do not wish to leave my brother for so long, but I know that he will be in great hands with you."

"Yeah, don't worry about Maleficent here. We'll have a grand time on our own, even if he says otherwise." Loki grinned up at Tony and then Thor, reaching out for the blonde with a tiny hand and Thor moved closer until Loki could cup his cheek.

Thor and Tony locked eyes with each other and with how close they were now standing to each other, breathed in their scents. Tony loved Thor's scent. It reminded him of a stormy summer night mixed with an ocean smell. For someone who had lived in Malibu and loved it better than Manhattan, it was comforting and reminded him of home. Malibu has always been his home, but now home was with his family, his team and fuck if he loved his new home.

"T'or!" Loki calls out desperately, if not with a hint of jealousy in his cute little high pitched voice. Loki tended to hate when he wasn't the center of attention, especially when his brother wasn't paying attention to just him.

"Hmm? Oh yes, little one, I must go away for a bit with Steve and the others," Thor begins to explain to the black haired toddler who was staring up at him in complete confusion, "however, you will be staying with Annie until I return. You must be good, little one."

"Ababa?" Loki babbled and Tony bit back a smile while Thor looked about ready to burst into tears.

"Hey, it'll be okay. Go before you're late and the pirate gets angry," Tony reassures Thor who nods and places a kiss goodbye to Loki's head before leaving Tony's office.

Loki was left staring at the now closed door sadly, but Tony blew a raspberry on his cheek and made him laugh instantly.

"Alright Gremlin, you wanna help me finish my work so we can go home quicker? I'll let you eat some of my food during dinner," Tony promised as he went over to sit at his desk with Loki on his lap.

With Loki having two bottom front teeth and the top ones starting to come in, Bruce had made a list of foods that Loki could and could not eat and so far the one year old loved to munch on animal crackers. Well it was more like make them soggy with his saliva and then offer them to whoever was sitting next to him, but Loki definitely had a sweet tooth.

Tony's office door opened and in walked Pepper focused on her tablet and asking Tony to view an email she'd just sent him, but a small cooing noise from Loki had her looking up and freezing halfway to Tony's desk.

"Tony, where did you get that baby?" She asked, eyes trained on Loki who was jumping on Tony's lap excitedly at the new person in the room. "Please tell me that you didn't steal him or someone finally demanded a paternity test."

"You wound me, Pep," Tony says in mock offense as he brings a hand up to his chest while still keeping an arm wrapped around the one year old. "Neither of those options, though I am certainly tempted by the first one. This is Loki, Thor's baby brother."

"Loki. The same Loki you guys fought a year ago?"

"Yep. Long story short, someone tried poisoning him in Asgard and when their mom tried reversing the effects this was the outcome so now Thor brought him here hoping to keep Loki away from the evil All Daddy and so we could help. He's been with us for about a week." Tony shrugged and completely ignored her glare.

"You guys don't do anything halfway," Pepper said in complete resignation as she walked over towards the pair, Loki's large green eyes staring at her curiously. "So is it like bring your kid to work day or something?"

"Uh no. The others went off on a mission and since you threatened Fury, I wasn't called in," Tony told her with a slight glare. "Which your plan failed because I'm stuck on babysitting duty until they return."

"Hmm, it's not so bad. Might help convince tomorrow's investor to sign with us. Loki's really cute, aren't you, honey? Yes you're cute," Pepper cooed at the one year old who giggled and kept bouncing in his excitement.

"Did you need me for something?"

"Yes. I need you to review the contract for tomorrow one last time before I print it," Pepper says, motioning to his computer and Tony set Loki down on the ground.

Loki crawled over to Pepper, making spit bubbles as he went. The CEO bent down and picked up the toddler who smiled wide at her.

"Are you sure this is Loki? He's too adorable to be the same one who tried to bring in his army," Pepper questioned as she made funny faces at the baby who giggled and tried reaching up to tug at her hair which was pulled up into a ponytail.

"I asked Thor the same thing, but it's definitely Loki, just in pocket size and less evil," Tony replies distractedly as he reviewed the contract, not even bothering to glance up at his best friend and sort of ex girlfriend (they'd never actually properly dated) who was just as smitten with Loki as Tony was.

"Speaking of a certain god of thunder-"

"Nope, not going there." Tony finally looks over but only to glare at Pepper who rolled her eyes. "You know I don't talk about my feelings. I'm allergic to that." Tony scratched his arm rather violently just for emphasis on his next words. "See? I'm already breaking out. Thanks, Pep."

Pepper rolled her eyes and sighed, giving Loki a look who pointed at Tony and giggled.

Pepper was more than glad to keep Loki entertained while Tony finished up a few things before calling it a day. She then reluctantly hands Loki over to Tony and watches the way the two just kind of relax once they're within contact. Tony buries his nose in the toddler's black hair and Loki presses his face in her friend's neck and closes his eyes. She's more than happy that Tony's proven himself wrong about being bad with kids. He's a natural, she notes. Wait until she tells Rhodey that Tony's all but adopted a god as a son.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then. Gotta get this one fed and changed," Tony says as he pats Loki's diapered butt, earning tired giggles from the toddler who shook his head no.

"Bring him by tomorrow," Pepper tells him with a smile as she rubs Loki's back. "Bye sweetie, be good to Tony."

"Annie?" Loki says as he lifts his head and looks between Tony and Pepper who looks so confused by the name.

"Blame Steve. The fucking troll started it," Tony grumbles and Pepper giggles into her hand.

"Alright Annie. I'll see you boys tomorrow."

Tony sighed and began to head out of his office with Loki waving at Pepper over his shoulder. Once up in his penthouse, Tony set Loki down and watched him crawl over to his little toy box.

"J, ignore any calls that aren't Pepper, Rhodey or the team. I'm unavailable for the rest of the day," Tony informs his AI as he takes off his suit jacket and drapes it on the back of the couch.

"Certainly sir. Also, may I suggest feeding the young sir? He was last given a bottle half an hour before Mr Odinson headed for your office," JARVIS told Tony who nodded.

"Yeah. That might be a good idea." Tony paused on his way to pick up Loki, not wanting to leave him unsupervised while he headed for the kitchen. "What do you feed a Gremlin?"

If JARVIS could sigh, Tony's sure the AI would be doing that just now based on the long pause he took to answer Tony.

"I would suggest giving the young sir a snack seeing as it is too early for dinner and he already had lunch," JARVIS eventually said. "I will provide you a list of choices a toddler his age may have."

"Life saver!" Tony exclaims as he picks up Loki who whines and makes grabby hands at his toys, but upon seeing that they're heading for the kitchen, forgets all about playtime.

On the refrigerator's touch screen, JARVIS has a list of snack items he can give to Loki. Tony reads through the list, thinking that he could have come up with all this on his own.

"Alright my little Hocus Pocus, you want some yogurt?" Loki shakes his head no. "Applesauce?" Again no. "I'm starting to think that's your answer to everything, so I'm just going to pick something out then."

Tony grabs a tub of yogurt out of the refrigerator and rolls his eyes fondly as Loki makes grabby hands at it. The genius then sits Loki in his high chair and sits in front of him to feed him his yogurt which Loki eats happily. Once done, Tony cleans him up and takes Loki back to the living room where he crawls off to his toys.

Half an hour later, Loki began to whine and that's when Tony discovered the surprise in the one year old's diaper.

"Loki!" Tony whines as he carries the toddler at arms length as he heads towards the nursery to change his diaper. "How can something so small be so disgusting?"

Changing Loki's diaper is a hard task. Tony hasn't changed a single diaper in the week since Loki's been home, that was Thor's job and it was smelly, disgusting and hard because Loki kept squirming around and making it difficult to clean him and put a clean diaper on. After that, Tony changed out of his three piece and into more casual and comfortable clothes; an old band tee and old joggers with grease stains. Heading back into the living room with the one year old, Tony sat on the ground and sat Loki next to him, watching with a smile as he crawled away.

Tony kind of lamented the loss of his coffee table. It tied everything in the room nicely and more often than not served as a foot rest despite Pepper's scolding that it was meant to place things on it, not feet. Tony had gotten rid of it when Loki had been crawling around one day and bumped into it. Loki had cried for quite a few long torturous minutes and Tony never wanted to hear him cry like that again, so he removed it before the one year old could learn how to walk. On the plus side it had created more space for Loki to crawl around.

"Annie!" Loki called from where he was now sitting in front of some different shaped blocks, the kind that would help Loki learn to put the heart shaped block in the heart shaped hole but all he seemed to want to do was put the circle in the square. Very stubbornly despite Thor and Steve finding the patience to teach him and tell him where all shapes went.

"Want another lesson in shapes, Lo?" Tony asks as he gets up from his spot and walks over to sit next to the one year old who handed him a yellow colored triangle block.

"Ababu?" Loki asked as he grabbed a square and tried to put it in the star shaped hole.

"Hmm, close enough. But that's a square you're holding, Gremlin. It won't fit in the star," Tony says gently as he points to the right hole but Loki, stubborn as ever, wanted to make it fit in the star shaped hole. "You'll learn. Thor always went on and on about how much smarter than him you were."

"T'or?" Loki looked around the room for his brother, but frowned when he didn't see him anywhere before looking up at Tony with accusing eyes like the genius had lied to him.

"Hey, I never said he was here, kid, so stop looking like you're seconds away from stabbing me."

"Wow Tones, never thought you'd accuse an innocent baby of trying to kill ya," comes Rhodey's voice from behind him, making both Tony and Loki jump in fright and turn to look at the man who was staring at his best friend with a smirk. "Actually, I never thought I'd see you with a baby. Period."

"Sour patch! How- JARVIS, a little warning next time," Tony reprimands his son as he stands up with Loki in his arms.

"I apologize sir, but you seemed to have been rather occupied with the young sir's lesson," JARVIS replies smugly and Tony sighs and shakes his head as Loki claps and giggles excitedly at JARVIS' voice. "And Colonel Rhodes did ask me to not say a word."

"You sneaky bastard. I'm assuming that Pepper told you and you needed to come see it with your own eyes?"

"Indeed. So this is Loki, huh? God of Mischief and all that? God Tones, I always joked about you having a kid somewhere out there in the world, but I never thought said kid would be a god," Rhodey joked and Tony huffed and rolled his eyes.

"He's not my kid," Tony argues weakly and ignores the 'yeah right' look Rhodey gives him.

"So are you and Thor playing house then? And where is everyone?"

"On a mission and no, the whole team is pitching in to help the poor guy out."

"Even Clint?" Rhodey frowns as he takes Loki from his best friend when the little one reaches out with one hand, the other has his fingers stuffed in his mouth.

"Well no, but we're confident that he'll come around. Eventually," Tony adds as an afterthought as he moves to the kitchen with Rhodey following after him and making silly faces at Loki who giggles around his fingers. "Hopefully."

"Fat chance."

Rhodey stays until dinner, Loki crying and reaching out for the man when they say goodbye to him at the elevator.

"Aww, don't cry, booger. I'll come visit real soon, alright?" Rhodey tells Loki who says something in between hiccups and sobs. "Now be good to Tony."

"Annie," Loki manages to get out as he looks up at Tony who sighs in resignation as Rhodey starts to laugh.

"I'm calling you that now. Annie Stark, has a nice ring to it," Rhodey teases Tony one last time before getting in the elevator and leaving.

Loki only calmed down when Tony sat him in a little arm chair he'd gotten the one year old and put on some cartoons.

Unfortunately for Tony, his day didn't end there. It was bath day for Loki and this would be the first time Tony bathes the one year old on his own. He's definitely not looking forward to it.

"Any updates on the team, J?" Tony asks his AI as he carries a naked Loki to the bathroom where a nice warm bath was now waiting.

"Negative, sir. Though I am sure Mr Odinson will find a way to send a message soon to inform you that he is well," JARVIS replies teasingly and Tony scowls as he settles a squirmy Loki in the bath water.

"I worry about the others too, you know."

"I am aware, but not as much as you worry about the god of thunder."

"So donating you."

"No!" Loki screams when Tony goes to wash his hair.

"Oh so finally you learn a new word? And not a good one, might I add. J, you get that on video?"

"Affirmative, sir. Would you like me to place it in young sir's file?"

"Yeah, add it to Baby Maleficent: Year 1," Tony confirms as he hands Loki a few rubber ducks and a toy boat.

"No," Loki whines and tries pushing Tony's arm away from his head.

"Whoever taught you that word is gonna catch these hands."

It takes longer than usual to bathe the toddler, but once done, Loki's eyes start to droop with exhaustion and he yawns a few times. Tony hums the whole time he dresses Loki and quickly makes him a bottle before heading into the nursery to sit on the rocking chair in the corner by a window.

"...Before you go to sleep. Say a little prayer. Every day in every way, it's getting better and better. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Beautiful boy..." Tony sang quietly as he rocked on the chair and smiled down softly at Loki whose eyes were closed though he wasn't completely asleep yet.

By the time the song ends, Loki is fast asleep, his grip on the bottle he'd been holding loosens and Tony can't help but to lower his head and kiss the toddler's forehead.

"Sleep tight, Lo-bear," he whispered against the one year old's head before standing up and heading to the crib to put Loki down in it.

With one final look towards Loki, Tony smiles and leaves the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched all six chapters of The Mandalorian this past Sunday, so I hope you guys had a more productive day than me. At least I don't have to wait til Friday for a new episode :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor walked forward and ran his fingers through Tony's hair, hoping to rouse him from his sleep. The genius began to stir, but instead of waking up he just leaned more into the touch and let out a content sigh as he shifted his grip on Loki who kept sleeping.

The team didn't return the next day, so Tony had to take Loki down to his meeting. JARVIS helped him pack a bag with the essentials; diapers, wipes, a few toys, Loki's favorite blanket, a little container with snacks and a sippy cup with juice and another with water. Unfortunately, Tony was running late so he had no time to warn Pepper that he was bringing Loki along.

"I'm here!" Tony shouts as he rushes into the conference room where Pepper's glare melts away once she spots Loki in her best friend's arms and chewing on a teething ring. "Sorry, but I couldn't find a last minute babysitter."

"It's fine, Mr Stark," the investor tells him with a smile, the other three people with him nodding in his direction. "Is he yours?"

"Yeah, he's my kid," Tony replies fondly as he smiles down at Loki who's stretching an arm out to Pepper.

Pepper takes Loki from Tony with a large grin and coos at the black haired toddler who offers his teething ring to her.

"No thank you, I'm full," Pepper tells Loki who goes back to chewing his green teething ring and staring at the others with an air of indifference.

"Alright so shall we get started?" Tony asks the investor who nods and Pepper takes over the meeting right away, explaining the contract and what it would mean for them to invest in SI's new medical line.

The meeting ends quickly after that, Pepper having sat Loki down on the ground between her and Tony who grabbed some toys from the bag and handed them to the one year old who played happily on his own.

"Thank you for actually coming," Pepper tells her friend as he gathers his kid and Pepper her papers.

"Well I mean, you kinda did threaten me to be here," Tony reminds her with a slight shrug, Loki on his left hip and the diaper bag on his right shoulder. "Otherwise I would have been with the team who knows where doing who knows what for who knows how long."

Pepper rolled her eyes and let out a tired sigh.

*

"Do you guys think Tony's gone crazy by now?" Natasha asks as her, Thor and Steve head up to the penthouse after their mission and a quick debrief with Fury. Bruce had headed to his floor for a shower and to get some rest and Clint had stayed back at SHIELD.

"Anthony has been great with Loki thus far, I believe he has done fine on his own," Thor defended his, hopefully, future queen.

"Of course you'd think that. You're whipped," Steve says with a slight huff and fond roll of his eyes.

When they step off the elevator, they frown at the silence that greets them, but the further they walk into the floor, they start to hear the soft hum of the television. And Tony, well they find him fast asleep on the couch with Loki on his chest, he too fast asleep and with an Iron Man themed pacifier between his lips and Tony's arms wrapped protectively around him. Thor just barely hears the amused snorts the other two let out, his gaze locked on the sweet scene in front of him. If only he could come home to this every day.

Thor walked forward and ran his fingers through Tony's hair, hoping to rouse him from his sleep. The genius began to stir, but instead of waking up he just leaned more into the touch and let out a content sigh as he shifted his grip on Loki who kept sleeping.

"Tony's a puppy, you can't just do that and expect him to wake up," Natasha says as she walks over and pinches the man's arm, which makes Thor frown at the startled and pained gasp that leaves the shorter man's lips.

"Ow! What the hell, Tash?" Tony complained, wanting to rub at the sore spot but that would mean letting go of Loki who was surprisingly still asleep despite the commotion. "Wait, when did you guys get back?"

"We just got home, but we came back about three hours ago," Steve explained as he gently took Loki from Tony's chest and placed him on his own, the one year old whining at the change but settling quickly once he was placed against the super soldier. "Came back to quite the sweetest scene I've seen in awhile."

"Ass," Tony grumbles as he sits up and rubs at his eyes to get rid of the sleep, vaguely aware of Thor's gaze on him. "Just so you know, nothing went wrong and I had a grand time looking after the Gremlin."

"JARVIS?" Natasha questioned the AI, looking over at Steve who was stroking Loki's back while smelling his hair.

"Indeed. Sir did a splendid job with the young sir," JARVIS replies, sounding a little proud of his creator for not freaking out in the presence of a small human.

"See? Oh and the Gremlin can say no now so that's bound to be a fun time," Tony informs them and Thor perks up at the mention that his brother has learned a new word. "It was caught on camera so you guys can have JARVIS show you if you want."

"Annie?" Comes Loki's quiet sleep filled voice and they all turn to see bright green eyes struggling to open and the one year old struggle to lift his head from Steve's shoulder. "T'or! T'or!"

"Brother, 'tis good to see you again!" Thor's booming voice echoes through the penthouse as he grabs Loki from Steve's hold and holds him over his head. "Hope you were good for Anthony."

"No!"

Natasha and Steve snickered while Tony sighed as he stood up and stretched.

"Well, if you guys will excuse me, I have things to do down in the workshop," Tony tells them as he starts walking towards the elevator.

"Will you be joining us for dinner?" Steve asks him with a slight frown.

"Of course I will because if I don't, I know you and Thor will go down there and drag me to dinner and I'd rather not give Rhodey more blackmail material."

"Annie!" Loki calls out, making grabby hands at the genius who simply waved as the elevator doors closed and took him down to his lab. "Annie."

"No worries, little one, your Annie shall return soon," Thor reassures his baby brother who was staring sadly at the elevator doors, probably hoping they would open and his Annie would step out. "Now, how about we go and have a snack, yes?"

"No!"

"Look at this cute little thing with his new favorite word," Natasha cooed at the one year old who turned to smile at her as if knowing that yeah, he's cute.

*

When Thor heads down to Tony's workshop to get him for dinner (he knows JARVIS can do it, but with Tony it was better that someone went and personally got him), he found the genius fast asleep on one of his workshop tables with a hologram of his latest suit upgrades open. The blonde god smiles at the sight, though he feels guilty thinking that maybe Tony didn't get any sleep because of Loki last night. His brother tended to wake up quite a few times during the night.

Dum-E rolls over to the Asgardian and makes a few beeping noises before motioning to his creator with its claw.

"Yes, thank you, Dum-E. I shall see that your father awakes and has a nice meal before sending him off to his own bed," Thor reassures the bot who beeps in what Thor assumes is relief before rolling back to its charging station.

Heading over to the engineer, Thor tried to think of a way to be gentle in waking up Tony when suddenly the man sat up with a gasp that made the blonde take two steps back. Tony's eyes were open wide and frightened as they locked with Thor's worried blue ones.

"Oh uh, hey there, big guy. Whatcha doing here?" Tony asks with a forced smile as he prays that Thor will ignore what just happened.

"Steven wanted me to come inform you that dinner is ready and I hope that you join us for the meal," Thor explains to his friend, sounding worried as he watched the man try to get his breathing back to normal.

"Yeah yeah, I can go for dinner. Sure uh just- JARVIS, save everything for me and lock down once we leave," Tony tells his AI a little rushed as he stands up and looks around to make sure he wasn't leaving anything behind.

The two walk towards the elevators silently, walking side by side. It's not an awkward silence. It's actually pretty comfortable despite Thor having witnessed one of Tony's nightmares even though realistically he knows that it was definitely one of the more mellow ones.

"So what's for dinner?" Tony asks eventually as they start to head up to the communal floor, his eyes trained on the changing numbers on the screen.

"Natasha made a Russian dish and Steve made apple pie," Thor replies enthusiastically and Tony chuckles softly as he looks up at the blonde in fond amusement.

"And who'd you leave the Gremlin with?"

"Bruce, though reluctant at first to accept."

Tony laughs at that knowing that his Brucie Bear was always uncomfortable around kids because of The Other Guy.

Stepping off the elevator, they came across the strange sight of Clint sitting in the living room with Loki crawling around and the archer keeping an eye out for the one year old who wasn't even fazed by the archer who he's only seen once.

"Annie!" Loki cheers once he spots the genius and Thor's mouth stretches into a grin right away as he watches the shorter man heading straight for his brother who was bouncing excitedly.

"Hey there, Gremlin!" Tony greets just as excited and happy as Loki as he picks up the toddler and places kisses all over his face. "Causing mischief, Mischief? Terrorizing the archer?"

"Ta?" Loki points at Clint who scowls and Tony snickers.

"That's right, my smart boy! The archer," Tony coos as he walks towards the kitchen still babbling away with Loki who had his tiny pale arms wrapped around Tony's neck.

"Thank you for looking after my brother," Thor tells Clint who waves him off with a grunt.

Thor heads into the kitchen where Tony's trying to get Steve to let him taste the pie, Loki too sending the super soldier some serious puppy dog eyes. Natasha and Bruce both looked on in amusement as Steve seemed to be caving in.

"Shield your eyes, Steve, they've got some serious power," Natasha comments with a soft chuckle as Tony brings out the pout and Steve grabbed his pie and headed to the other side of the kitchen with his back to Loki and Tony, the latter scoffing and Loki making grabby hands at the super soldier.

"Nay, Loki. You will eat dinner first," Thor says firmly as he takes his brother from Tony who turns to pout at him instead.

Loki whined and kept trying to reach for Steve, well more specifically the pie, letting out little whimpers when neither his brother or the pie got closer. They all watch as Loki squirms around until he just buried his face in Thor's shoulder and gave little pitiful whimpers. Thor simply rubbed Loki's small back in comforting motions and gave the others a smile.

"Well that's one crisis averted and to our resident genius drama queen, please set the table," Bruce tells Tony with a deadpan expression. Tony went to complain, but figured he shouldn't reduce himself to Loki's age and did as he was told.

Clint joins them for dinner, surprisingly. He cracks a few jokes and makes silly faces at a still upset Loki when he thinks that nobody is looking. It feels like they're a family again and Thor loves the feeling of home and love in the air. And he especially loves looking over at Tony and seeing him relaxed and smiling wide, honey colored eyes shining with happiness as he leans back on his seat. Thor watches Tony throw his head back and laugh at whatever Steve's told him, eyes squeezed shut and the little crinkles by his eyes deepening. Tony's everything he's ever wanted in a person; strong, smart, with a big heart, the kindest soul and selfless despite others saying otherwise.

"You should definitely make a move," Natasha tells Thor in a quiet voice as she leans over to talk to the god without the others overhearing. It's not like they would though, Steve had Bruce, Tony and Clint wheezing with laughter over some old war story.

"I do not understand?" Thor questions in complete confusion and Natasha rolls her eyes, but not in a mean way.

"I mean, you like Tony so much, do something about it. Ask him out or what is it that you guys do on Asgard when you like someone?"

"We generally court the person of our interest by giving them gifts and such. I would not know what to give Anthony, though. He is a man who has everything."

"Look, Tony's a billionaire who can buy himself literally anything he wants and he receives expensive guests on the daily, but people don't really give him things he likes. The smaller simpler things make him happy. You can buy that man a box of donuts and he would thank you forever. Especially if it comes with coffee and from his favorite bakery two blocks over."

"No," Loki says with a shake of his head when Tony tries to wipe his face from the barbecue sauce. "No! Annie!"

"Gremlin, it's not bath day so either you let me clean you up or you let me clean you up," Tony argues with the toddler who leans as far back as he can to get away from the napkin heading his way.

"Aye, brother, you would not want to have a bath today, would you?" Thor questions Loki with a smirk and the one year old lets Tony clean him up reluctantly. Loki really hates bathtime.

"Can you guys believe this is our new normal?" Steve questions as he stares fondly at Loki who's dipping his fingers in his food and then licking it. "Drooling over a baby?"

A few snickers were heard around the table, especially as Loki began to babble excitedly and bang his chubby fists against the little table on his high chair and made food go flying in every direction. Some got on Tony's hair since he was sitting next to Loki like usual and the genius simply sighed.

"Well I certainly miss when I used to be free of messes like this one," Tony grumbled as he grabbed a napkin to clean himself off while Clint laughed at his misery. "Next time aim it at everyone but me, Mischief."

"Annie!" Loki called out to him happily and well Tony had to smile, even with the bad nickname.

After dinner, they all settle in the living room after clean up and sit down for the first time in awhile to enjoy a movie night as a family. They pick a Disney movie that has Loki watching completely fascinated from beginning to end, sitting between his Annie and his big brother. Clint surprisingly joins them, no longer trying to keep his distance from Loki.

"It is time for Loki's bedtime," Thor announces as he stands up from the couch with the one year old in his arms, Loki reaching out for Tony and wanting to stay and watch one more movie.

"Nope, sorry little dude, but your bro is right," Tony tells Loki who pouts and the others chuckle. "Hey, no, put that away, Gremlin. I gotta work tonight so I will see you in the morning. Think you can handle it on your own tonight, big guy?"

"Aye. Do not worry my friend, I have this handled and if I require assistance than I shall have friend JARVIS fetch Steven for me," Thor replies as he turns to look at Steve who splutters in indignation.

"What?! Why me? I know nothing about bedtime routines for babies," Steve informs Thor who laughs and Tony sends the good Captain a smirk. "Oh no, Stark, don't give me that look."

"You're going to have to learn sometime, Stevie my boy," Tony says as he stands up from the couch and stretches. "Who knows, maybe you'll have to babysit one night." Tony winks at him and Steve rolls his eyes.

"Oh please, dude, my money's on Steve asking Pepper out first before you and Thor get your shit together," Clint chimes in with a shit eating grin that only grows wider as Tony turns red and starts to make a hasty retreat while Thor stands there looking like someone just told him they don't make Pop-Tarts anymore. "Too easy. Too easy." Clint chuckles and Natasha hits the back of his head with a pillow while Steve sends him a glare.

Once up on his floor, Thor starts preparing a squirmy, yet clearly tired Loki, for his bedtime. He changes his diaper, puts on his pajamas and then prepares a warm bottle for him. Once everything's ready, he sits in the rocking chair in the corner of Loki's nursery and struggles a bit to find a good angle to hold the one year old and feed him.

"What do you think I should do, Lo?" Thor asks his baby brother who blinks up at him tiredly. "Should I just ask Anthony out?"

"If I may, Mister Odinson," JARVIS speaks up and Thor gladly listens to the AI who's the only one in the tower to know the genius better than the rest, "I believe it is quite obvious how much sir likes you, but he is also afraid to ruin not only his friendship with you but the team in case things did not work out between the two of you. I would say that you show him first that you are in it for real and that you do care before attempting to make the first move. I am sure sir would appreciate the courting you mentioned earlier at dinner."

"That is a grand idea, friend JARVIS. I sincerely appreciate your help and I do hope to alleviate Anthony's fears about ruining things between us and the rest of the team because I am more than sure that he is the one for me." 

JARVIS didn't reply again, but he would do anything to make sure that his creator and the Asgardian ended up together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone !! Enjoy your family time, eat lots of food and stay safe !! I hope to bring a new update on January 2nd to give me time to write up a few more chapters so I hope to see you guys then :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey there, buddy. Why the long face?" Steve asks as he takes the toddler into his arms, amusement clear on his face as Loki snuggles into him and throws another glare his brother's way.

Thor's day starts the second Loki wakes up, which varies from day to day, but on average Loki wakes him up sometime around six in the morning. It's rare for the toddler to wake up crying, usually he'll just lay in his crib playing by himself until he starts to get impatient and cries out for Thor.

Today isn't any different. Thor wakes up to Loki's soft babbling coming from the baby monitor beside his bed and the god of thunder takes his time in getting out of bed and ready for the day. By the time Thor has finished getting dressed, Loki's starting to whimper, obviously impatient to get out of his crib.

"Morning, dear brother," Thor greets the toddler who looks up at him with large green eyes that were filled with unshed tears. "Ready for a new day?"

Loki stood up in his crib, using the railing for help and made grabby hands at his big brother who grinned as he picked him up.

"Annie," Loki says with a pout as the blonde sets him down in the changing table.

"You want to see your Annie?" Thor asks the toddler who nods and brings his hands up to rub at his eyes, still clearly tired but too stubborn to admit it. "No worries, we shall go see him in just a few minutes. First, I need to get you changed into clean clothes."

"No."

"Yes, little brother. You do not want to be stinky when you see Annie, right?"

Loki doesn't say anything, just wiggles around as Thor unbuttons his footie pajamas and then his diaper. Thor keeps talking as he changes his brother's diaper and then dresses him in gray stripped pants with a koala on the butt and a matching long sleeved shirt. Thor loved dressing his brother in outfits with cute little animals, especially sweaters with little animal ears on the hood. The perks of having a cute little baby who couldn't speak out against what he was wearing.

"You are adorable," Thor coos at the toddler who was starting to fall asleep, only to jump at the sound of his brother's loud and deep voice. "Sorry, but you cannot sleep right now, little one. You must eat breakfast first and it is not my fault you decided to wake up so early."

Loki scowls up at Thor who only laughs as he picks up the toddler and presses a kiss to a chubby cheek just to further irritate the toddler who whines and tries shoving him away. Thor only laughs harder as he makes his way to the elevator that takes them straight to the communal floor where only Steve was found.

"'te!" Loki shouted as he stretched his arms towards the blonde, desperate to get away from Thor.

"Hey there, buddy. Why the long face?" Steve asks as he takes the toddler into his arms, amusement clear on his face as Loki snuggles into him and throws another glare his brother's way. "Aww, did Thor make you mad? You poor thing."

"He is mad because I will not let him go back to sleep, but it is his fault for waking up so early," Thor explains with a grin as he reaches over to pinch Loki's cheek, only for the toddler to shriek angrily and bury his face against Steve's neck which only made both men laugh.

"Hey, do you mind getting Tony out of his lab? He spent all night there again," Steve informs Thor who nods and heads off to go get their resident genius. "Want to help me make breakfast, Lo?"

"Mhm," Loki nods, sniffling dramatically which made Steve laugh as he headed for the kitchen.

"Are you in the mood for French toast today? Homemade, of course. We can't be feeding you frozen foods all the time. It's not healthy and I don't want you getting bad eating habits," Steve told the toddler who was just content in the super soldier's arms, glad that someone wasn't pinching his cheeks or placing slobbery kisses. He could always count on Steve for when he was feeling cranky. "So French toast?"

Loki nodded, bringing his fingers up to suck on them as he watched Steve grab the ingredients with one hand, before opening up a drawer and pulling out a new pacifier from an opened package and handing it to the toddler. Loki scowled at the item for a bit, but then remembered how good it felt to chew on the rubber. It felt so good once it was in his mouth, that Loki didn't even mind when he was placed in his high chair.

Loki was too busy with his new pacifier to pay attention to what Steve was telling him. Besides, it's not like Loki was going to wake up tomorrow and decide to make French toast, he really didn't need to know the name of all the ingredients and a step by step lecture on how to make French toast. Silly Steve.

"Wow, look at this precious little thing," Loki's head whips around when he hears Natasha's voice and bounces excitedly in his seat at the sight of the Russian who's smiling wide at him. "Someone's excited to see me."

Loki babbled away happily, dropping his pacifier onto the little tray on his chair and reaches out for the woman. Natasha gladly takes Loki out of his seat and hugs him tight.

"Oh you sweet little thing, look at you! You're a little koala," Natasha coos as she takes in Loki's outfit and the little prince looks down at himself and frowns. His brother was going to pay for this. "This is the only time I get to cuddle you before Tony comes in and whisks you away."

"Annie?" Loki asks as he looks around the room, thinking his Annie was around, but he pouted and frowned as he returned his gaze to Natasha who laughed.

"Uh oh, Nat, I wouldn't anger the little one. He's a bit cranky this morning," Steve warns the spy who nods in understanding.

"Having a rough morning?" Nat asks Loki who sniffles just because he knows the affect it has on them.

"... that is not true," they hear Tony's voice come from the elevator followed by Thor's laugh and Loki immediately twists this way and that just wanting to see his Annie. "I was not drooling, so don't stoop me to Loki's level, Point Break."

Loki didn't drool, what was his Annie talking about out? Silly Annie. Nat chuckles and the two men who enter the room pause their discussion to greet them.

"Annie!" Loki shouts happily at the sight of the genius, extension his arms out to him and making grabby hands.

"Oh there's my favorite little guy!" Tony shouts happily as he heads towards Nat and takes Loki from her, kissing the toddler's cheeks and earning excited squeals. "Yes that's right! You're my one and only favorite, now. Well, I'll make an exception for Steve because he cooks for me, so ya know."

"Gee thanks," Steve mumbles playfully as he starts to pile the French toast onto a plate and then motions for everyone to start grabbing their food.

Tony gives Loki one final kiss before strapping him back in his high chair where Loki now banged his little hands demanding food. He was promised French toast and he was going to eat French toast.

"No Bruce or Clint?" Steve asks the others who shake their heads.

"My Brucie Bear is in the middle of a very important and time sensitive experiment in his lab," Tony explains as he places a little plastic plate in front of Loki who squeals happily. "You get that appetite from your brother."

Thor laughed as he sat in his usual seat next to Loki with his own plate and a large mug of coffee. No one was really sure where the soup bowl-like mug had come from, but one day they'd found Thor sitting at the kitchen island with the thing filled to the brim with coffee.

"And Clint's with Coulson, bothering his new team," Natasha replies with a smirk and Tony snickers.

"I like the baby agents. Daisy's my favorite," Tony informs the team with a grin and Thor frowns briefly, wondering who this Daisy person was.

"That's because she brought you donuts and cupcakes, and Melinda keeps giving you the stink eye every time you crash their training."

"Melinda gives everyone the stink eye," Steve points out in order to defend his best friend who smiles at him. "She intimidates me."

"Good. I'll let her know she scares Captain America," Natasha teases Steve who flushes and Thor relaxes a bit, though still slightly jealous that someone else was giving his Anthony treats.

Loki, who'd previously been watching them all with wide green eyes, turned to Tony and began to babble away. He looked completely serious at whatever he was telling Tony who humored him by nodding along and replying the first thing that came to his mind.

After breakfast, Tony took Loki down to the labs to visit Bruce who barely spared them a glance as they entered. Loki looked around the place with open curiosity, looking this way and that until his gaze settled on Bruce and he squealed happily. Bruce looked up from one of the many screens he had open and greeted them, waving awkwardly at Loki who babbled away at the scientist.

"Uh really?" Bruce tried to answer him to keep the toddler engaged, though it was awkward and Tony found it highly amusing. "Well, Tony is pretty dumb, isn't he?"

"Hey!" Tony exclaimed in mock hurt and Loki shrieked with laughter. "I came to have a good time, but now I'm feeling so attacked."

"You're a couple decades too old to be using memes. Is there a reason why you're here or did you just come to bother me?" Bruce asked, effectively stopping Tony from going on about his age and how he wasn't too old.

"I need you to look after the little one for a few minutes while I check something in my lab. Please?" Tony begged as he held Loki at arm's length and smiled hopefully at his best friend who looked torn between saying no or agreeing, but one look at Loki's cute little smile had him agreeing reluctantly. "Okay, great! Thanks! Lo, be good, and I'll be back in just a few short minutes."

"Annie?"

"Annie gotta go bye bye for a bit, but Uncle Brucie Bear will look after you until I come back, alright?"

Loki nods and reaches his little arms out towards Bruce who finally took the baby and held him awkwardly. The two watched as Tony left the lab before Loki turned to face Bruce with big green eyes.

"Uh I... uh so what do you wanna do?" Bruce asked the toddler awkwardly and Loki tilted his head to the side, clearly not understanding the question. "Right, you're one. Hmm, how about we practice walking?"

Loki frowned for a second, but when Bruce set him down on his two little feet and held his hands, the toddler shrieked happily. If there was one thing Loki wanted to do more than anything, was walk. He just wanted to follow his Annie anytime the man left the room and Loki was more than determined to master this ability to move his feet as soon as he could.

"You've got strong little legs, I'm sure with some more practice you'll be up and running on your own in no time. Once you do though, give your Annie all the trouble you can possible give him," Bruce tells him and Loki babbles in response as he moves his little feet at a slow and unsteady pace. "Serves him right."

Bruce kept talking, awkwardly because he felt stupid talking to someone who couldn't reply back, but he knew that keeping a conversation with a toddler was important for their development. Especially now that Loki was starting to repeat sounds that vaguely sounded like words.

"I know Tony's dumb, but he's probably the kindest man I know," Bruce said as he sat on the floor with Loki who was playing with some goggles. "I mean, who else would offer up their home to a group of dangerous strangers?" Loki looked up and tilted his said before babbling something seriously. "Yeah, he might say otherwise but he's got a heart of gold. Other people don't realize that though and they take advantage of him and because he's Tony, he lets them."

"Annie no?" Loki asks and Bruce chuckles just to humor the one year old.

"Tony no is our favorite word around here and his is Tony yes. He's as dumb as he is a genius."

"Hey now, stop spreading lies to my young Padawan," comes Tony's offended voice as he enters the lab, smiling as Loki squeals excitedly and reaches his arms out to the genius. "There's my little guy! Have fun with Uncle Brucie Bear?" Tony asks him as he picks up Loki who cuddles into his chest and yawns.

"Seems like I tired him out," Bruce states in complete amusement without taking his gaze away from Loki.

"It's nearly nap time anyway." Tony shrugs as he rubs Loki's back with one hand.

"Look at you being responsible for once."

"I can totally be responsible, I just choose not to. It's boring and I'm not a boring person like Steve."

"'te?" Loki mumbles sleepily, eyes half closed and a thumb in his mouth.

"Yeah, you know, Steve? Big tall, blonde dude who likes to follow the rules and all? That guy. He's a boring old man," Tony rambled as he waved goodbye to Bruce before heading out of the lab. Loki was fast asleep before Tony could even get to the part where Steve might have been his godfather in another life had he married his Aunt Peggy.

Shuddering at that thought, Tony arrived on his floor and took Loki into his room. He had no idea where Thor was, or the others for that matter but he suspected they'd gotten called into SHIELD while he was downstairs with Bruce.

"Hey," Barton greets him after leaving Loki's room, munching on chips while sitting on Tony's couch and watching Tony's TV.

"Um hello. Do you not have your own floor?" Tony asks the archer a little confused as he stands at the entrance with his hands on his hips.

"I do, but I ran out of snacks and you always have the good stuff," Clint replies with a mouthful of chips and Tony grimaces at the crumbs on his couch. It was bad enough having a one year old constantly spilling stuff, but having a fully grown man child? That wasn't okay.

"Okay just... don't wake my baby," Tony says tiredly, not really up for arguing or kicking the man out.

Clint smirked at Tony who headed into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and with the intention of grabbing a donut, but surprise surprise, the box was empty on the island.

"Oh yeah, I ate your donuts!" Clint calls from the living room and Tony growls.

"I already placed your usual order, sir," JARVIS informs Tony who smiles.

"You're the best, J!"

After pouring himself some coffee in the last clean mug he had, Tony headed for the living room and sat with Barton on the couch.

"Where's your wife?" Clint asks teasingly and Tony scowls at him.

"Where's yours?" Tony counters with a smirk as he takes a sip of his coffee.

"Touche."

Clint went back to watching TV and it was strange that Tony was quiet for more than a minute, but when he turned to look at the genius, he found him fast asleep which wasn't so surprising since between taking care of a baby God of Mischief and working on his own projects, the man really wasn't getting much sleep anymore. So he lets the genius sleep, even though Tony is definitely going to complain about his back and neck with the angle he's in. He lets Tony sleep and he keeps munching on the man's snacks and drinks while watching a movie until soft cries from the baby monitor startle him.

He'd forgotten about Loki who was very much awake now and probably wondering where Tony was. Clint, as much as he wanted to, didn't really have the heart to wake up the genius so he sighed and headed upstairs to the toddler's room.

Inside, he found Loki standing up while gripping at the bars on his crib, bottom lip sticking out in an adorable pout and black hair a rat's nest on his head.

"Uh hey there, little dude," Clint greets him awkwardly and Loki looks like he's seconds away from full on screaming before recognition floods his emerald colored eyes. "Uh so Tony is kind of dead to the world right now."

"Annie. Annie!" Loki chants excitedly, letting go of the bars to clap his little chubby hands together which makes him lose his balance and fall back on his bottom. The one year old giggles and it makes Clint smile a bit as he approaches the crib with hesitant steps.

It might be Loki and he might not be totally over what happened with the mind control mumbo jumbo, but the god had been as much a victim as Clint had. And well, Clint couldn't hold it against an innocent baby, especially not when all this tiny Loki seemed to do was say Annie, drool and giggle adorably.

"So..." Clint mumbles, unsure about taking Loki out of his crib until the toddler made grabby hands at him and the archer reached in to take him out awkwardly. "Do ya need a diaper change? Because like, I'm not doing that."

Loki simply kicked his little legs excitedly and wiggled in Clint's arms.

"I will take that as a no because I really don't want to do that. We're gonna have to play here since your daddy is fast asleep in the living room."

"Ati?" Loki questions as he tilts his head to the side.

"Yeah your daddy. Your old man. Papa, if you need an easier word," Clint rambles on distractedly as he looks around the room for toys Loki could entertain himself with.

"Apapa," Loki tested the word out. "Pa pa pa pa."

"Yeah yeah. Oh, here, have fun with this," Clint says as he places some large blocks in front of the toddler who was now sitting on a plush rug.

Loki clapped his little hands excitedly, eyeing the blocks with interest before he got to work doing what he did best, putting them in his mouth. Clint grimaced as he sat in front of the toddler. He grabbed a few and taught Loki how to build a tower only to have the one year old knock it down and shriek happily.

"You're not so bad, kid," Clint tells him. "We'll raise you right so you don't go on a murder spree when you find out your adopted. And Tony's a great guy and I'm sure he'll be a great dad, just be patient with him and his self loathing ways. We've all had shitty pasts and- I probably should stop swearing in front of you."

"You definitely should, bird brain," come Tony's angry voice from behind the archer who freezes and Loki looks up at the voice, making happy noises as he reaches out for the genius. "And stop feeding him lies. I am not self loathing."

Clint gives him an incredulous look as Tony picks up Loki who pats his face with drool coated fingers.

"Whatever you say, papa bear."

"Papa!" Loki repeats, looking between Clint and Tony, the latter who was frozen in his spot while Clint tried not to burst into laughter.

"Good job, little dude! You're learning new words," Clint praises the toddler before heading out of the room.

"Papa," Loki calls again, poking Tony's cheek to get his attention.

"I would cry, but then JARVIS will send the video to everyone else and I've got a reputation to keep," Tony began, clearing his throat a few times and Loki giggled, "but I think I can afford to shed a few tears."

Loki looked mildly alarmed when he saw tears leaking from Tony's eyes, but then the genius was peppering his face in kisses and he forgot about it in favor of laughing in delight.

"You've really come to change my life around for the better, Lo. If they didn't know how to appreciate and love you, I promise that I will," Tony says softly as he rests his forehead against Loki's.

\- - -

"Bring him to me. It is time we finished what his father started," a Russian accented male voice instructed, back to the one he was giving orders to as he faced a set of monitors. "It is time we come out of the shadows and take our rightful place in this world. You understand your mission?"

"I am to observe, gather data and then act. No mistakes," a dark haired man in heavy armor replies, eyes cold and distant, devoid of emotion.

"Good. Hail HYDRA."

"Hail HYDRA."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, it's been so long since my last update, but i wanted to carefully plan this one out and i went out and made a lot of changes that i hope you'll like. there's an actual plot to this story which ties in with the events in The Winter Soldier.
> 
> hope to be able to keep up with regular updates :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you calling me small, short stack?" Tony asks in mock offense as he looks down at Loki who looks up at him and giggles. "Well buddy, I've got some news for you."

"So where is everyone?" Tony asks as he sits Loki down in his high chair early in the morning while Thor made them breakfast. The thunderer has become a surprisingly good cook.

"I believe the Captain and Lady Romanov are at SHIELD while Barton got in from a mission pretty late last night and Banner is in his lab yet again," Thor explained as he flipped a pancake.

"Hmm. Seems like it's just us three today." Tony grins down at Loki who yawns tiredly. "This is why I tell ya to sleep in, gremlin."

"Papa," Loki whines as he rubbed at his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, I'm the bad guy."

Thor just chuckled and shook his head as he placed two plates with pancakes on the table and a smaller plastic one with bite sized pieces on the tray of Loki's high chair.

"Perhaps we should take my brother out for some fresh air," Thor suggests as they sit down to eat their breakfast.

"That's not a bad idea. Loki's been cooped up inside since he got here and a trip to the park will do him some good," Tony agreed as he smiled over at Thor only to find the man already watching him fondly. Tony found himself smiling back before turning to eat his food, feeling flustered that the blonde couldn't keep his eyes off of him. "You wanna go outside Lo? To the park and see all the pretty ducks?"

"Ou'?" Loki asks as he points over at the window.

"Yeah, outside. We'll feed the ducks even though we're not supposed to. It's not like they'll arrest us for doing so."

Thor chuckles as he takes a sip of his juice, eyes on both his brother and the genius. He was really looking forward to going out today, like a family. It would be a great experience not just for Loki, but also for him. To experience such a normal thing like he's seen many Midgardian families do. Perhaps this could be a glance at his future.

After breakfast and cleaning up their mess, though reluctantly on Tony's part, they packed a diaper bag for Loki with the essentials which included a bottle, diapers, wipes, his favorite pacifier, blanket some toys and a few snacks. They dressed Loki in appropriate clothes, something comfy but warm since it was a bit chilly out and then Thor grabbed the stroller on their way out and they were off for a nice day at the park.

Loki was babbling excitedly the whole ride down the elevator, clearly happy to be leaving the tower for a few hours and, Thor and Tony humored the little guy.

***

"Wanna go see the ducks, Mischief?" Tony asks the one year old as they head over to the pond, the toddler in his stroller and looking around curiously with large green eyes and two fingers in his mouth.

Thor was the one pushing the stroller, his long blonde hair pulled up into a low ponytail and sunglasses covered his eyes. Tony himself walked next to the Asgardian, he too with sunglasses and a baseball cap on his head and the diaper bag hanging over his left shoulder. The park was relatively empty and Tony knew from experience that the less you tried to hide with a silly disguise, the less the chances of being seen by the paps. He really didn't want to expose Loki to the media anytime soon, even though he knew the news would leak inevitably, so he was just going to make the best of the time they had before they found out.

For now though, they were just a happy little family enjoying a nice sunny morning out.

"Come here, booger," Tony says once they reach the pond and he bends down to pick up Loki who kicks his feet excitedly, gaze locked on the water and the ducks just floating around. "Those are ducks. I know cartoon ducks are very different looking, so don't be too disappointed, Maleficent."

"Annie," Loki replies in between giggles, pointing over at a tiny duck who swam next to its mother and siblings who were a little bigger compared to the thing.

"I believe he has named the duck after you, Anthony," Thor says rather amused as they sit on the grass about a foot away from the pond, a large teasing grin on his face as Tony splutters.

"Are you calling me small, short stack?" Tony asks in mock offense as he looks down at Loki who looks up at him and giggles. "Well buddy, I've got some news for you."

Loki squealed happily and returned his gaze back to the ducks who had swam further away now. The one year old pouted slightly and he looked up at Tony and Thor to express his indignation, but finds them busy talking with each other and not paying him any attention. Loki huffs and with a look of determination, begins to crawl towards the edge of the pond. He squeals loudly when the tips of his fingers brush against the cold water in hopes of beckoning the ducks closer.

"'ack," Loki tried to imitate the noises the ducks were making.

"Where do ya think you're going, my little duckling?" Tony asks in amusement as he picks up the toddler who kicks and screams a bit. All he wanted was to touch a duck. "If you fall in the water, you'll drown and then I'll miss you a lot."

Loki frowned up at his Annie who laughed at his expression and pressed a kiss between his eyebrows just to further annoy the little one. Thor laughs at the scene the two most important of his life make.

"Papa," Loki whines, pointing over at a duck.

"You want one?" Tony questions, unsure of the toddler's intentions.

"Hmm." Loki nods eagerly and turns his large green eyes at Tony that melt the engineer's heart.

"Anthony, I hope you are not planning on actually getting my brother a duck as a pet," Thor interrupts before the genius could promise such a thing to Loki who was now scowling at his brother for interrupting them.

"Sorry Lokes, you heard the big man, but what about a duck plushie instead?"

Loki sighed and nodded reluctantly. Perhaps one day he could have his own real duck, but that would have to be when his brother wasn't around. Meanie Thor.

Afterwards, Tony teaches Loki how to throw bread at the ducks which ended in Loki screaming and crying when a duck got too close to him. Thor laughed and stony sighed and rolled his eyes as he let Loki cling to him, his tiny body shaking.

"So much for having a pet duck," Tony mumbles as he watches Thor pick up their things while he comforts a distraught mini God of Mischief.

"You shall not get him a duck for a pet... or any pet for that matter," Thor adds the last part when he saw Tony about to make a protest.

"You ruin all our fun," Tony says teasingly as he pats Loki's bottom to calm him down. "How about some lunch before heading back to the tower?"

"Aye, sounds marvelous."

Tony nods, a slight smile on his face as he and Thor begin to head out with the taller man pushing an empty stroller and Loki resting his chin on Tony's shoulder as he waved goodbye to the ducks.

Unfortunately for them, lunch would have to be rescheduled for another day because Thor ended up getting summoned to Asgard with urgency, leaving a worried Tony and a cranky toddler who demanded to be fed and was clearly upset that his brother had to leave in such a hurry.

"I'll let you have some ice cream if you wipe that look of your face," Tony bribes the toddler who huffs but does stop scowling because ice cream sounds pretty good right now. "Just don't tell Thor or anyone else that I had to bribe you because then I'll never hear the end of it."

"Hmm?" Loki wonders as he looks at his papa, head tilted slightly and Tony couldn't help but to grin and press a kiss to the tip of his baby's nose.

Tony laughed as Loki wrinkled his nose, finally reaching the tower and heading for his private elevator to head straight up to the penthouse since no one else was due home anytime soon.

The second Tony steps off the elevator, he knows something's wrong. JARVIS never greeted them which was a very big red flag. Loki, as if sensing the sudden change in mood from his caretaker, tensed in Tony's arms and buried his face in the genius' neck. Tony tightened his hold protectively as he took cautious steps forward, wishing he had an Iron Man gauntlet to defend them from whatever intruder had managed to take down JARVIS.

The last time someone had managed to take down the AI, had been...

"Well, I guess it is true," spat a familiar voice and Tony groaned as he cane face to face with Nick Fury who sat casually on his very expensive leather couch.

"True about what?" Tony tried playing it dumb, but the way Fury was looking at _his_ kid made Tony feel angry and scared at once.

"That you motherfuckers have an intergalactic criminal living with you and you didn't bother telling me," Fury sneered as he stood up from his spot on the couch and walked forward until he was standing about a foot away from Tony, his one good eye trained on the toddler.

"This has nothing to do with you or SHIELD and I would highly appreciate it if you didn't call my son a criminal," scolded the genius as he gripped the toddler tightly, Loki refusing to come out of his hiding place.

"You may think it has nothing to do with SHIELD, Stark, but I can assure you that it does. Or did you forget all the damage he caused last year? He is a wanted criminal."

"No he isn't. This is a one year old you want to lock away to rot in a cell and I am not going to let you take him. The guy from last year is all but dead now and I am not going to let you charge an innocent for something he has no idea he even did," Tony argues with the stubborn man while taking one step back, ready to make a run for the hidden staircase that lead straight to his lab.

Fur let out a harsh bark of laughter that startled Loki and made the toddler whimper. Tony glared at the one eyed man who made a move to grab his gun when suddenly the elevator doors opened and out walked Steve, Natasha and Clint looking murderous as they stood in front of Tony and Loki in a protective barrier.

"Director, didn't know you made house calls now," Natasha remarked, a smirk on her face as she let her Widow Bites catch the light in a menacing way.

"And I especially didn't know that you threatened children these days," Clint added in mock surprise as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned his weight on his left leg.

"With all due respect, Director, but you cannot break into our home and threaten one of our own. Loki is apart of our family now whether you like it or not and we will defend him and fight for him if we need too," Steve warned Fury who very obviously didn't like being at a disadvantage now. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now and you are no longer welcome into our home."

"You will regret this Stark, I know you will," Fury warns the genius before leaving and Tony sighed in relief once the pirate was gone.

"How'd you guys know?" Tony asks as he lets Steve take Loki from his arms, the toddler immediately cuddling into the blonde.

"JARVIS contacted us the second he felt someone trying to take him down and we got here as quick as we could," Natasha explains as she rubs Loki's back. "Thought Thor was with you."

"He had to leave for Asgard. Sounded urgent. It might be something related to our favorite mischief maker," Tony explains as he walks over to his kitchen to grab Loki a bottle.

With the stress of the situation, Loki has forgotten about his appetite and he was now struggling to stay awake as Steve rocked him gently and rubbed his back. Tony didn't blame him. Fury was enough to make him want to start drinking again.

"Can't believe Fury was so intent on taking a baby into custody," Clint says angrily. "Like, what's he gonna do? Charge him for drooling?"

Loki lifted his head and turned to glare at Clint which made Natasha and Steve laugh, the tension leaving their bodies. The toddler began to babble away, scolding Clint who was staring wide eyes at the toddler.

"Pretty sure he's saying that he doesn't drool and that you can kindly fuck off, Legolas," comes Tony's voice from the kitchen and it makes Loki stop attacking the archer and making grabby motions towards the area where his Annie had gone.

"Language," Steve reprimands his best friend as he heads to the kitchen where Tony is twisting the cap on Loki's bottle and gives it a good shake before handing it over to the impatient one year old.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Can you watch after the gremlin while I get JARVIS back online?" Tony asks his best friend who nods, a soft smile on his face as he watches Loki lean his head back on Steve's shoulder as he drank his milk with a dash of vanilla.

"Yeah, don't worry. Go do your thing. This little one won't be awake for much longer anyways. Seems like wherever you took him tired him out," Steve comments with a fond little chuckle.

"Oh, that reminds me. If you ever see a duck around the tower, don't be surprised."

Tony leaves before Steve can question the genius, cackling along as he went.

"You guys think we should worry about Fury coming back with SHIELD agents?" Clint questions his teammates as he settles back on Tony's couch, feet on the coffee table and flicking through the channels on the obnoxiously large TV.

"Let's hope he takes our threat seriously, otherwise, I don't want to know what Thor might do if he does," Natasha replies as Steve sits next to her, Loki on his lap and still drinking his bottle with his eyes closed. "Jealous of his eyelashes."

Steve snorts as he looks down and sees that in fact, Loki does have long and dark lashes that contrast against his pale skin and curled upwards. The super soldier brings a finger to trace the feather like lashes, laughing as Loki opened one eye and gave him an annoyed look. Natasha rolls her eyes as she removes Loki's shoes and rubs his little feet which makes the toddler sigh in appreciation.

"Wish I had that life," Clint comments as he stares at Loki who was being treated like a king.

"This _is_ all you do all day," Natasha replies with a scoff and Clint grins.

"But no one pampers me like Prince Eric over here."

Steve chuckled and shook his head as Loki finished his bottle, eyes struggling to blink open more and more each time. Eventually the toddler was fast asleep, slumped against Steve's chest and letting out quiet little coos.

"I'm gonna go put him in his crib," Steve says quietly as he stands up, letting Natasha take the empty bottle as he adjusts his grip on Loki who didn't even stir at the change.

Entering the nursery, Steve couldn't even be surprised by how extravagant it all was. It still felt loved and honey though, the way parents wanted their baby's nursery to feel so their baby felt safe and despite Tony's insistence of being a bad father, he made an excellent one.

"Alright, buddy," Steve whispers as he lowers Loki into the crib gently. "Sleep tight."

With one final look to make sure he was okay, Steve left the nursery as quietly possible.

When Steve re entered Tony's living room, he found Bruce had arrived and was looking a little green around the edges as Nat and Clint explained what had happened.

"If only I hadn't stepped out to run some errands," Bruce chided himself as he took off his glasses and cleaned them in his usual nervous habit.

"It's probably better that you did, otherwise there'd be some Hulk sized damage to the penthouse," Natasha tells him and Bruce sighs but agrees.

"They're both fine Bruce. We got here just in time. Tony is getting JARVIS back up and Loki is sleeping in his room," adds Steve in a comforting tone, smiling at the scientist.

"I'm gonna go see Loki then," Bruce mumbles and heads up the stairs to the bedrooms while the others sat in the living room waiting for Tony to return with news.

"Can't believe the same guy who tried to take over our world last year is literally our entire world now," Clint jokes lightly as he stares down at his phone where a picture of him and Loki with matching grins stared back.

"Hmm. Everything I was supposed to be becomes nothing when I'm holding the little guy. He makes me feel more human than I ever have since leaving the red room," Natasha agreed softly, stroking the soft fur of one of Loki's plushies which she found under the side table.

Minutes later, Tony stepped off the elevator typing away on a StarkPad and mumbling something to himself under his breath. He was updating JARVIS and the tower's security system because if there was one thing that Tony Stark hated, it was when someone outsmarted him and now his paranoia of another Fury incident happening had been dialed up by ten and he needed something better and stronger to keep his Loki safe. He'd rather die himself than let anyone hurt Loki again and he was going to make damn sure that never happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, look who updated😂😂 the only new thing in my life is that i finally managed to finish Grey's Anatomy


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole time they were enjoying their breakfast, Tony couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched.

Tony wakes up very early in the morning to Loki's cries coming from the nursery. The genius groans and buried his face in a pillow before getting out of bed and heading to the room next door.

"Why the tears, mischief?" Tony asks as he approaches the crib, only to wrinkle his nose in disgust. "Yeah, I'd be crying too with that nasty smell."

Tony picks up Loki who stops crying momentarily thinking he was going to get cuddled, but started crying again when the genius held him at arm's length. The little one kicked and squirmed until he was set down on the changing table where he hiccuped and glared at Tony like he was the bad guy of the story.

"Sorry kid, but I need to get you out of this mess before you get a rash and all that not so fun stuff," Tony explained as he readied the supplies, and himself, and then began to undress Loki. "But once you're all clean and dressed, we can go out for breakfast and then visit the ducks at the park again, sound good?"

"'ack?" Loki imitated the duck sounds with a pitiful sniffle that had Tony biting back a chuckle.

"That's right, buddy, quack. Do you like ducks?"

Loki shook his head with a slight frown, probably remembering what happened last time, and Tony laughed loudly as he finished up changing Loki into gray overalls and a red long sleeved shirt underneath. Tony would dress the kid in designer clothes so he could be the most stylish baby out there, but Loki is messy and he would have to be constantly throwing out said clothes and he doesn't think that the others would appreciate Loki being dressed head to toe Givenchy or Burberry.

"Alright, champ, let's pack up a bag and get going because I am starving," Tony announces as he picks up Loki who was now smiling and babbling excitedly at the idea of going outside again. "J, I am not available for anyone unless it is a life or death situation or end of the world problem, got it? If Pep needs me, tell her I am having quality Loki time."

"Understood, sir. I would recommend packing an umbrella as rain is predicted for later this afternoon," JARVIS suggests to Tony who thanks him for the heads up.

It's not long before Loki is strapped into his stroller with a diaper bag over Tony's shoulder as they ride the elevator down to the lobby. The second Tony steps out of the building, he's got a feeling he can't shake off as he starts heading down the street in the direction of his favorite coffee shop. Loki was looking around at everything with wide green eyes, smiling and waving at strangers who would occasionally stop to smile down at the toddler.

"Alright, Lokitty," Tony calls the toddler's attention to him as they enter the cozy building, the smell of coffee and fresh baked bread hitting their noses right away. "We're gonna eat some breakfast and then go see the duckies, deal?"

"Aah!" Loki shouts, attracting the attention of an elderly couple who were the only ones in the shop and sitting by a window. The woman smiled at Loki and commented something to her husband as Tony pushed the stroller towards the front.

The young barista on the other side of the counter smiled at Tony and then waved down at Loki who waved back enthusiastically. Tony loved this coffee shop because they'd never disclosed his presence each and every time he showed up. He could spend hours here and no one would even bat an eye that Tony Stark was in the same room as them.

"Good morning, Mr Stark, will it be your usual this morning?" The young girl asks with a smile.

"Yes, plus hot chocolate for the little one and a banana muffin as well, please Macy," Tony informs the young girl who nods and writes down his order before ringing up the total.

"ananana!" Loki shouts excitedly in an attempt to say the word, earning a giggle from Macy and fond smile from Tony who ruffled his kid's dark hair.

"Close enough."

Once his order was ready, Tony grabbed his things and headed towards a table where he sat Loki in one of the high chairs and fed him pieces of the muffin and small careful sips of his drink that he had poured into a sippy cup.

The whole time they were enjoying their breakfast, Tony couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched. It wasn't from the inside, since the shop was small enough to just barely fit four tables for two and aside from him and Loki, the barista and the elderly couple were the only ones inside. The large windows at the front gave view to the busy street, but even then Tony couldn't make out anyone that could be watching.

Shrugging and brushing it off as his paranoia, Tony focused on Loki and laughed at the black haired toddler trying to reach for Tony's own drink. Had Loki had his powers, Tony was sure that he'd be using them to get to said drink.

"You will be the death of me, cutie," Tony informs the toddler who simply grins innocently up at him. "How about we get going and visit your old pals the ducks?"

Loki nods eagerly and raises his arms up for Tony and whines impatiently until the genius picks him up. Tony throws their trash away before picking Loki up out of his seat and cradling him close as he pushed the little high chair back in its place, waving away the barista when she offered to help him.

Once strapped in his stroller and their things had been collected, Tony and Loki began their walk down the street to the nearby park. It was a little cold and it was definitely getting cloudier with each passing minute, but Tony didn't mind. The two desperately needed some fresh air after being cooped up in the tower for so long. No one else had been home either, so Tony hadn't seen the point in staying in.

"Here we are, champ," Tony says as he pulls up at the little pond where a few ducks were swimming about unbothered. He picked Loki out of his stroller and sat on the ground with the toddler on his lap and smiling at the little creatures. "I'll take you to the zoo once it's a little warmer out. You'll love it there."

Loki makes a quizzical sound as he tilts his head up to look at Tony who smiles down at him and tells him all the animals that are in a zoo and even makes a few noises for the kid which he absolutely loves.

Their day gets cut short when the first rain drops begin to fall, so Tony packs up his kid and the few toys he'd scattered around on the blanket he'd laid on the floor and was off as quick as he could.

Loki babbled away the entire time the elevator took them up to the communal floor after JARVIS informed him that Steve and Natasha had returned from their meeting at SHIELD. Loki, upon hearing JARVIS mention the two, had began to squeal excitedly and squirm impatiently in his seat. Tony simply rolls his eyes and pushes the stroller forward when the elevator doors open and Steve is the first one to greet them which makes Loki squeal in a pitch so high he's sure his ears will start bleeding.

"Ow," Steve mumbles as he unplugs his ears, having had quite the fast reflex once the toddler started squealing. "You are very happy to see me, aren't ya?"

Loki raises his arms up towards Steve who grins as he takes him out of his seat and holds him to his chest. The toddler pats Steve's cheek, stops when something tickles his palm and goes again. Steve just laughs at Loki's fascination with his stubble and Tony rolls his eyes as he expertly folds the stroller and puts it away in the closet.

"Natasha's making lunch, so you guys came back just in time," Steve says as they walk to the kitchen where sure enough, Natasha was cooking grilled cheese sandwiches for the adults and a bowl of purée fruit for the little one who immediately began to make grabby hands towards it.

"Nat, cooking?" Tony asks suspiciously as he frowns at Steve's back. "She never cooks unless- what'd Fury do?"

"You catch on quick, Antoshka," Natasha says fondly as she smiles over at Tony and Loki. "We'll discuss this after lunch. Maybe even once the little one has settled down for his nap."

Tony nods but can't help but to worry anyways. They're already down one member, he didn't need two more to head of on a mission and leave him alone with Loki. He didn't think himself capable of looking after the little one alone for so long.

"Alright boys, sit," Nat eventually says as she places a plate piled with four sandwiches in front of Steve and another plate with one sandwich in front of Tony. "I'll feed this little monster."

Loki giggles as Nat blows a raspberry on his cheek before he's strapped into his high chair.

For the rest of lunch, Tony them of his morning adventures with Loki and soon after that, Loki was fast asleep in Natasha's arms. Cradled safely and the redhead gazing down at him fondly.

"Alright, spill," Tony informs his two best friends who look at each other before turning to face Tony.

"Fury is sending us out to DC for a few weeks. We can't go into detail because this isn't Avengers business, but just to let you know we leave tomorrow and have no return date set," Steve informs Tony who nods, unsure of what to say to that. "I know it's not ideal, with Thor being gone and all, but I'm sure you'll be fine. You're doing a great job with Loki whether you believe so or not, Tones. You're a great dad, and you don't have to worry about looking after him without us."

Tony goes to deny Steve's statement, but knows there's not use to argue. Perhaps he had no idea what he was doing half the time, but his main purpose was to keep Loki happy and safe and give him all the love he obviously missed out on with his own family.

"I wanna buy Loki a duck," Tony suddenly says.

"Tony no," Natasha warns the man who grins at her.

"Hey, I never specified if it was a real duck or not."

"Your face says it all," Steve points out with a raised eyebrow and Tony rolls his eyes.

"I'm gonna go put this little one in his playpen," Natasha tells them as she stands up with Loki resting against her chest.

Once Natasha was gone, Steve turned to look at Tony and sighed.

"Something wrong, Steve-o?" Tony asks his friend worriedly.

"I don't know. It's just that something about the timing for this mission that feels... wrong," Steve concludes with a slight frown and Tony doesn't want to admit that he agrees. Why was Fury sending Natasha and Steve away when they were already down three members? This just left Tony as the sole Avenger defending New York in case of an attack.

"Hey, you and Nat go and don't worry about anything else other than your mission. Lo and I will be fine here and it's not like Brucie will be gone for much longer. He said a week at the most and it's been three days already," Tony tries to do his best to reassure Steve, but the blonde Captain barely manages to smile. "Have some faith in me, Steve. I won't burn the tower down in your absence."

"You better not. Everyone and their mother knows that Nat and I are your voices of reason and the ones that prevent you from getting a pet duck," Steve teases and the genius scoffs playfully.

"In my defense, Loki told me he wanted one."

"Yeah right."

*

"You are such a precious little thing," Natasha coos at Loki later that day as she sits on the ground playing with the toddler.

"'ack!" Loki shouts in glee as he looks up at her and shows her his plush duck.

"Quack! That's right, you smart котенок."

Steve, who was sitting on the couch a few feet away from them drawing, simply chuckled and shook his head. It was just them three on the communal floor, since Tony had some unfinished projects in his lab that needed his attention, though Steve suspected that it was to give them the chance to be with Loki before they left.

"Do you think he'll be walking by the time we return?" Steve wonders, a little upset about possibly missing Loki's first steps. "Bruce said it could happen any day."

"Probably. I just hope you catch it on film, JARVIS."

"I will even have the recordings sent to your phones when the young sir reaches such an important milestone," the AI replies quickly and Loki immediately looks up to the ceiling and claps his little hands at the sound of JARVIS' voice.

"Thank you, J," Steve expressed his gratitude to the AI, smiling and then he sets his things aside to join Loki and Natasha on the floor. "But ya know, Lo, it'd be great if you wanted to start walking right now."

Loki simply turned to look at Steve and he grinned, babbling his own reply to the super soldier who laughed and ruffled the dark locks in front of him.

"You are too pure for this world," Natasha mumbles fondly as she rubs a small chubby cheek with her index finger.

"Wow, if only the villains could see you now," comes Rhodey's voice from the elevator, a smirk on his face as he eyed the two Avengers making heart eyes at a baby. A baby who squealed with joy when he announced his presence. "Oh hey there! How's my favorite nephew?"

Rhodey picks up Loki whose babbling reach an impossibly high pitch that has poor Steve covering his ears at.

"Hi Rhodes," Nat greets him as she stands up and stretches. "Came to make sure Tony was still alive and not freaking out over being a dad?"

Rhodey and Steve both laugh and Loki joins them too because he doesn't want to feel left out.

"Have a few days off and decided to drop by and visit. Also cause I missed this little dude," Rhodey explains as he looks down at Loki who smiles up at him.

"You came at the right time," Steve informs the colonel, relaxing a bit in knowing that Tony and Loki weren't going to be totally alone. "Nat and I leave for DC tomorrow with no return date set and the others are also gone doing their own business and after what happened with Fury breaking into the tower the other day and trying to take Loki."

"Fury?" Rhodey frowns as he bounces Loki around a bit when he whines a little, clearly upset over the name.

"I'm sure it's just Steve's paranoia, but Tony would be staying alone with Loki for who knows how long and while the tower may be the safest place for them, we still can't be too careful," Natasha butts in.

"I'll be here for the next three days, hopefully that'll be enough until one of the others return, then."

The elevator doors open a second later, making their conversation come to an end as Tony steps out looking like he just chugged the entire contents of his coffee maker.

"JARVIS told me my Rhodey bear was here!" Tony exclaims as he walks over to hug Rhodes who rolls his eyes fondly as he pats the shorter man on the back. Loki mimicked his action and giggled as his little palm hit his Annie's back. "Watch it, Gremlin."

"Papa!" Loki shrieks, catching Rhodey by surprise as he lets his best friend take the toddler.

"Well that's new," Rhodey comments teasingly and Tony absolutely does not blush. Nope.

"Blame Legolas. At least it's not mommy or whatever."

"Amama," Loki tests out the word and Tony groans, already knowing where this was going. The other three wait, struggling to keep their laughter inside until Loki's shout of, "mama!" sent them into laughing loudly.

"I hate my life," the genius grumbled as he stared at Loki who kept repeating the word now that he had managed to master it. Well that and because he wanted to keep his uncles and aunt laughing.

"Alright mama duck, we'll take your little duckling to get a diaper change," Steve manages to say in between chuckles.

"I will get you for that, Rogers," Tony threatens as he hands over a still giggling Loki who snuggles into the blonde's chest.

Natasha and Steve disappeared down the hall where they had an extra nursery set up since they spent so much time in the communal floor. Tony led Rhodey to the kitchen where they each grabbed a cup of coffee.

"I see you've been settling well into your role of dad to a space prince," Rhodey teases his best friend who huffs.

"Truth is I've had help and with the others going away in the morning, kinda freaking out here," Tony confessed. "I could barely keep that plant we had in MIT alive, a tiny human? Not feeling very confident."

"Hey, Loki adores you and I know you'll do great. Besides, Pep is here and I'm staying for a few days."

"Really?!"

"Said it was a family emergency and it really was. I missed my nephew," Rhodey teases Tony who laughs quietly and shakes his head. "How are things with Thor going?"

"Nope! Not going there!"

The next morning, they all get up early to see Steve and Natasha off. Loki clings to them and cries a little when they board the Quinjet and leave. All Tony can do is comfort the toddler the best he can and wish for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert ominous music here*
> 
> had a sudden bout of inspiration over the weekend and ended up writing two chapters of this story and went back to working on a fic i've left unfinished in my drive for over a year now
> 
> also, really trying to aim for once a week updates on this fic

**Author's Note:**

> Slow Updates


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